F 281 
.G358 
Copy 1 






OF THE 






CONTAINING ANNUAL REPORTS OF OFFICERS, 

ANNIVERSARY ADDRESSES, 

BIBLIOGRAPHY OF THE SOCIETY, 

LIST OF OFFICERS AND MEMBERS. 

CONSTITUTION AND BY-LAWS. 

ACTS OF INCORPORATION, 

MISS TELFAIR'S TRUST DEED, 

EXTRACT FROM THE TELFAIR WILL. 

ETC. 




SAVANNAH. GA. 

THE MORNING NEWS, 

1914 






OF THE 



l|tat0rtral B>0rirtg 

CONTAINING ANNUAL REPORTS OF OFFICERS, 

ANNIVERSARY ADDRESSES, 

BIBLIOGRAPHY OF THE SOCIETY, 

LIST OF OFFICERS AND MEMBERS, 

CONSTITUTION AND BY-LAWS. 

ACTS OF INCORPORATION. 

MISS TELFAIR'S TRUST DEED, 

EXTRACT FROM THE TELFAIR WILL, 

ETC. 




SAVANNAH, GA. 

THE MORNING NEWS, 

19U 






Gift 
Tbe Society 

5£? SO ;8,5 



OFFICERS 

(For the year 1914) 

WILLIAM W. MACKALL, President. 

THOMAS J. CHARLTON, M. D., First Vice-President. 

OTIS ASHMORE, Second Vice-President. 

OTIS ASHMORE, Corresponding Secretary. 

CHARLES F. GROVES, Secretary and Treasurer. 

WILLIAM HARDEN, Treasurer Telfair Trust Fund. 

WILLIAM HARDEN, Librarian. 

BOARD OF CURATORS 

To serve until 1917. 

WILLIAM W. MACKALL 
WILLIAM W. WILLIAMSON 
. WILLIAM W. GORDON 
CHARLES ELLIS 

To serve until 1916. 

ALEXANDER R. LAWTON 
GEORGE J. BALDWIN 
OTIS ASHMORE 
WYMBERLEY J. DeRENNE 

To serve until 1915. 

J. FLORANCE MINIS 
HENRY C. CUNNINGHAM 
BENJAMIN H. LEVY 
THOMAS J. CHARLTON, M. D. 



STANDING COMMITTEES 

Finance : 

MR. HENRY C. CUNNINGHAM 
MR. GEORGE J. BALDWIN 
MR. WILLIAM W. GORDON 
MR. J. FLORANCE MINIS 

Printing and Publication: 

MR. WYMBERLEY J. DeRENNE 
MR. OTIS ASHMORE 
DR. THOMAS J. CHARLTON 
MR. WILLIAM W. MACKALL 

Library: Term expires: 

MR. OTIS ASHMORE, Dec. 31, 1916 

MR. THOMAS J. CHARLTON, Dec. 31, 1918 

MR. CHARLES ELLIS, Dec. 31, 1915 

MR. WILLIAM W. GORDON, Dec. 31, 1914 

MR. H. WILEY JOHNSON, Dec. 31, 1917 

Telfair Academy: 

MR. ALEXANDER R. LAWTON 

MR. CHARLES ELLIS 

MR. BENJAMIN H. LEVY 

MR. WILLIAM W. WILLIAMSON 



AN ACT 

TO INCORPORATE THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 



Whereas, The members of a society instituted in the City of 
Savannah for the purpose of collecting, preserving and diffusing 
information relating to the History of the State of Georgia in 
particular, and of American history generally, have applied for an 
Act of incorporation. 

Section 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Repre- 
sentatives of the State of Georgia, in General Assembly met, and 
it is hereby enacted by the authority of the same. That J. M. 
Berrien, James M. Wayne, M. H. McAllister, I. K. Tefft, William 

B. Stevens, George W. Hunter, H. K. Preston, William T. 
Williams, C. S. Henry, J. C. Nicholl, William Law, R. M. Charlton, 
R. D. Arnold, A. A. Smets, J. W. Anderson, William B. Bulloch, 
William H. Bulloch, J. H. Burroughs, J. Balfour, Joseph G. Binney, 
William P. Bowen, J. B. Bartow, James Barnard, Morgan Brown, 
G. B. Gumming, Solomon Cohen, Joseph Gumming, D. C. Campbell, 
J. H. Couper, W. A. Caruthers, W. H. Cuyler, Edward Coppee, 
William Crabtree, Jr., Archibald Clark, William Duncan, William 

C. Daniell, George M. Dudley, J. De La Motta, Jr., J. S. Fay, S. 
H. Fay, W. B. Fleming, J. F. Griffin, Robert Habersham, W. 
Neyle Habersham, J. C. Habersham, E. J. Harden, S. L. W. 
Harris, George Jones, J. W. Jackson, P. M. Kollock, G. J. 
Kolloch, Ralph King, T. B. King, William McWhir, J. B. Mallard, 
John Millen, W. H. Miller, C. McArdell, J. S. Morel, M. Myers, 
J. F. O'Neill, E. Neufville, E. A. Nisbet, A. G. Oemler, A. Porter, 
J. F. Posey, Thomas Paine, Willard Preston, Edward Padelford, 
Thomas Purse, R. W. Pooler, William Robertson, L. O. Reynolds, 
J. Bond Read, R. H. Randolph, F. M. Robertson, George Schley, 
James Smith, William H. Stiles, B. E. Stiles, J. L. Shaffer, Charles 
Stephens, William P. White, John E. Ward, George White, and 
such other persons as now are and may from time to time become 
members of said Society, be, and they are hereby, declared and 
constituted a body corporate and politic, by the name of the 
"Georgia Historical Society," and by that name shall have per- 
petual succession, and be capable to sue and to be sued, to plead 
and be im.pleaded, answer and be answered unto, defend and be 
defended in all courts or places whatsoever; to have a common 
seal and the same at pleasure to change or alter; to make, establish 
and ordain such a Constitution and such By-laws not repugnant to 
the Constitution of this State or of the United States, as shall from 
time to time be necessary and expedient, and to annex to the 
breach thereof such penalty, by fine, suspension or expulsion, as 
they may deem fit, and to purchase, take, receive, hold and enjoy, 
to them and their successors, any goods and chattels, lands and 
tenements, and to sell, lease or otherwise dispose of the same, or 



6 THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 

of any part thereof, at their will and pleasure; Provided, that the 
clear annual income of such real and personal estate shall not 
exceed the sum of five thousand dollars; and, Provided, also, that 
the funds of the said corporation shall be used and appropriated 
to the purposes stated in the preamble of this Act, and those only. 

Sec. 2. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid. 
That the said Society shall have power to elect and qualify such 
officers as may by them be deemed necessary, to be chosen at such 
time and to hold their office for such period as the Constitution 
or By-laws of said Society shall prescribe; and that if the election 
of said officers, or any of them, shall not be held on any of the 
days for that purpose appointed, it shall be lawful to make such 
election on any other day. 

Sec. 3. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid. 
That it shall be the duty of the Governor of the State to trans- 
mit, or cause to be transmitted, to the said Society a set of the 
Acts and also of the journals of the present and future sessions of 
the Legislature, and also copies of all other documents, papers, 
books and pamphlets that shall hereafter be printed under or by 
virtue of an Act of Legislature, or joint resolution of both branches 
thereof, unless such Act or resolution shall otherwise provide; and 
that the said Society may, by their agent or agents, have access 
at all reasonable times to the several public offices of this State and 
of the corporate towns and cities thereof, and may cause such 
documents to be searched, examined and copied without paying 
office fees, as they may judge proper, to promote the object of the 
Society. 

Sec. 4. And be it further enacted. That this Act shall be and 
is hereby declared to be a public Act, and shall be construed be- 
nignly and favorably for every beneficial purpose therein intended, 
and that no misnomer of the said corporation in any deed, will, 
testament, devise, gift, grant, demise or other instrument of con- 
tract or conveyance, shall vitiate or defeat the same; Provided, the 
corporation shall be sufficiently described to ascertain the inten- 
tion of the parties. 

Sec. 5. And be it further enacted, That the Governor be, and 
is hereby, authorized and requested to confide to the care and 
keeping of the proper officers of said Society the transcripts of 
the Colonial records lately taken by the Rev. C. W. Howard in 
London, until further disposition of the same shall be made by 
the General Assembly. 

JOSEPH DAY. 
Speaker of the House of Representatives. 

ROBERT M. ECHOLS, 

President of the Senate. 

Assented to 19th December, 1839. 

CHARLES J. McDonald, 

Governor. 



THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 7 
AN ACT 

TO AMEND AN ACT ENTITLED "AN ACT TO INCORPOR- 
ATE THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY," AS- 
SENTED TO 19TH DECEMBER, 1839. 



Section 1. The General Assembly of the State of Georgia do 
hereby enact: That the provisos in the first section of the Act 
entitled "An Act to incorporate the Georgia Historical Society," 
assented to on the nineteenth day of December, in the year 
eighteen hundred and thirty-nine be, and the same are, hereby 
repealed. 

Sec. 2. And it is hereby further enacted. That this Act take 
effect immediately on its passage; and that al! Acts and parts of 
Acts, so far as they militate with this Act, are hereby repealed. 

R. L. McWHORTER, 
Speaker of the House of Representatives. 

JOHN J. NEWTON, 

Clerk of the House of Representatives. 

BiENJAMIN CONLEY, 

President of the Senate. 
J. G. W. MILLS, 

Secretary of the Senate. 

Approved October 25th, 1870. 

RUFUS B. BULLOCK, 

Governor. 



MISS TELFAIR'S TRUST DEED. 



"STATE OF GEORGIA, 
"Chatham County. 

"Whereas, The late Margaret Telfair Hodgson, of the 
City of Savannah, State of Georgia, during her lifetime, 
commenced the erection of a structure or building on lot 
number fourteen (14), Forsyth Ward, being the south- 
west corner of Gaston and Whitaker streets, in the City 



8 THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 

of Savannah, to be called Hodgson Hall, and intended to 
complete the same on a plan furnished by Detlef Lienau, 
architect, as a memorial of her late husband, William Brown 
Hodgson, but for the express use of the Georgia Historical 
Society, on certain terms and conditions made known to 
said Historical Society, which are hereinafter enumerated 
more in detail ; 

"And, Whereas, The said Margaret Telfair Hodgson 
departed this life while said building or structure was, as 
it now is, unfinished and incomplete, leaving a last will 
and testament without any specific directions therein as 
to the completion and disposition of said lot and building, 
and also leaving Mary Telfair as her residuary legatee ; 

"And, Whereas, The said Mary Telfair is desirous to 
carry into effect the wishes and intentions of the said 
Margaret Telfair Hodgson in the premises, and to charge 
the residuum of said estate with the cost and expense of 
erecting and completing said building or structure on the 
proposed plan. 

"Now, This Indenture witnesseth. That the said Mary 
Telfair, of the City of Savannah and State of Georgia, for 
and in consideration of the premises, and of the sum of 
five dollars to her in hand paid by Alexander R. Lawton, 
of the same City and State, hath granted, bargained, sold, 
conveyed and confirmed, and by these presents doth grant, 
bargain, sell, convey and confirm unto the said Alexander 
R. Lawton, his executors and administrators, all that said 
lot or parcel of land in the City of Savannah and State of 
Georgia, known as lot number fourteen (14), Forsyth Ward, 
with the buildings and improvements now thereon, in an 
unfinished and incomplete state, but to be finished and 
completed at the proper cost and expense of the said Mary 
Telfair, for which purpose the said Mary Telfair does here- 
by charge the entire residuum of the estate of the said 
Margaret Telfair Hodgson, in her own hands now as residu- 
ary legatee, or in the hands of her executors after her death, 
to such extent as will furnish the means and funds necessary 



THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 9 

to finish and complete said building or structure, to be 
known as Hodgson Hall, on the plan prepared for that 
purpose, or as nearly so as practicable ; to have and to 
hold the said lot of land and improvements, now and 
hereafter to be put upon the same, to him the said Alex- 
ander R. Lawton, his executors and administrators forever. 

"In trust nevertheless, to permit the Georgia Historical 
Society to have the exclusive use, possession, control and 
management of said building and lot; Provided, said Society 
will, through its proper officers, accept the same on the fol- 
lowing terms and conditions to-wit : That the said building 
shall be known as, and called, Hodgson Hall ; that no 
public speaking shall be permitted within the walls of said 
building, except under the auspices or connected with the 
business of said Georgia Historical Society ; that no enter- 
tainments or amusements of any kind, which include or 
involve eating, drinking or smoking, be permitted within 
the walls of said building; that the building is never to be 
rented or lent out for any purposes whatsoever ; and, 
further, that under the portrait of the said William Brown 
Hodgson, which is to be hung on the wall of said building, 
shall be inscribed, in permanent letters, the following 
words : Tn Memoriam, William Brown Hodgson ; this 
building is erected by Margaret Telfair Hodgson, A. D., 
1873,' or other words of similar import; and that the other 
conditions, on which the use and control of the building 
are committed to the Georgia Historical Society shall also 
appear conspicuously on the wall of the principal Hall in 
the building. 

"In witness whereof, the said Mary Telfair hath here- 
unto set her hand and seal this tenth day of June, in the 
year eighteen hundred and seventy-four. 

"MARY TELFAIR. (L. S.) 
"Signed, sealed and delivered in the presence of 

"WILLIAM J. MARSHALL. 
"D. R. GROOVER, Notary Public, C. C, Ga." 



10 THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 

Etif mt Arab? mg of Arta mtib BmmtB 



EXTRACT FROM WILL OF MARY TELFAIR^ 



"Fourteenth. I hereby give, devise and bequeath to 
the Georgia Historical Society and its successors, all that 
lot or parcel of land, with the buildings and improvements 
thereon, fronting on St. James Square, in the City of 
Savannah, and running back to Jefferson street, known in 
the plan of said City as lot letter 'N,' Heathcote Ward, the 
same having been for many years past the residence of 
my family, together with all my books, papers, documents, 
pictures, statuary and works of art, or having relation to art 
or science, and all the furniture of every description in the 
dwelling house and on the premises (except bedding and 
table service, such as china, crockery, glass, cutlery, silver, 
plate and linen), and all fixtures and attachments to the 
same, to have and to hold the said lot and improvements, 
books, pictures, statuary, furniture and fixtures, to the said 
Georgia Historical Society and its successors, in special 
trust, to keep and preserve the same as a public edifice, 
for a Library and Academy of Arts and Sciences, in which 
the books, pictures and works of art 'herein bequeathed, 
and such others as may be purchased out of the income, 
rents and profits of the bequest hereinafter made for that 
purpose, shall be permanently kept and cared for, to be 
open for the use of the public, on such terms and under 
such reasonable regulations as the said Georgia Historical 
Society may from time to time prescribe; but this devise 
and bequest is made upon condition that the Georgia His- 



*Miss Mary Telfair died June 2, 1875. 
Will of Miss Mary Telfair dated June 1, 1875. 
Will of Miss Mary Telfair probated June 5, 1875. 

Messrs. Wm. Neyle Habersham and William Hunter qualified as ex- 
ecutors June 7. 1875. 



THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 11 

torical Society shall cause to be placed and kept over and 
against the front porch, or entrance to the main building 
on said lot, a marble slab or tablet, on which shall be cut 
or engraved the foillowing words, to-wit: 

TELFAIR 

ACADEMY OF ARTS AND SCIENCES 

the word 'Telfair' being in larger letters and occupying 
a separate line above the other words ; and on the further 
condition that no part of the buildings shall ever be occu- 
pied as a private residence or rented out for money, and 
none but a janitor and such other persons as may be em- 
ployed to manage and take care of the premises shall occupy 
or reside in or upon the same, and that no part of the 
same shall be used for public meetings or exhibitions, or 
for eating, drinking or smoking, and that no part of 
the lot or improvements shall ever be sold, alienated or en- 
cumbered, but the same shall be preserved for the purposes 
herein set forth. And it is my wish that whenever the walls 
of the building shall require renovating by paint or other- 
wise, the present color and design shall be adhered to as far 
as practicable. For the purpose of providing more effect- 
ually for the accomplishment of the objects contemplated in 
this item or clause of my will, I hereby give, devise and 
bequeath to the Georgia Historical Society and its suc- 
cessors, one thousand shares of the capital stock of the 
Augusta and Savannah Railroad, of the State of Georgia, 
in special trust, to apply the dividends, income, rents and 
profits arising from the same, to the repairs and mainte- 
nance of said buildings and premises, and the payment of 
all expenses attendant upon the management and care of 
the institution herein provided for, and then to apply the 
remaining income, rents and profits in adding to the Library, 
and such works of art and science as the proper officers of 
the Georgia Historical Society may select, and in the preser- 
vation and proper use of the same, so as to carry into effect 
in good faith the objects of this devise and bequest." 



Constitution and By-Laws as aAmended to February 

i4tk, igio. 



CONSTITUTION 



ARTICLE 1. 

Name. 

The Society shall be called The Georgia Historical 
Society. 

ARTICLE 2. 

Objects. 

Its object shall be to collect, preserve and diffuse in- 
formation in relation to the History of the State of Georgia 
in all its various departments, and American history gener- 
ally, and to create an historical library for the use of its 
members and others. 

ARTICLE 3. 

Classes of Membership. 

The Society shall consist of Active, Life, Correspond- 
ing and Honorary Members. Active members embracing 
those within the State and such others as may be elected as 
such ; Life members, those who pay one hundred dollars ; 
Corresponding members, those at home or abroad who are, 
or may be, of service to the Society and its objects ; and 
Honorary members, those distinguished for their public 
services, or literary, artistic, or scientific attainments, par- 
ticularly in the department of history throughout the world. 



THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 13 

ARTICLE 4. 

Officers. 

The officers of the Society shall be a President, two 
Vice-Presidents, Corresponding Secretary, Recording Secre- 
tary, Treasurer, Librarian and a Board of Twelve Curators, 
and such other officers as may from time to time be pro- 
vided for by the Curators. 

At the annual meeting in 1910 Curators shall be elected 
as follows : Four to serve for one year, four to serve for 
two years and four to serve for three years. At each 
subsequent annual meeting four Curators shall be elected 
to serve for three years, and others shall be elected for such 
terms as may be necessary to fill existing vacancies. Elec- 
tion of Curators shall be by ballot. The Board of Curators 
may fill all vacancies in their number pending the next 
annual meeting. 

All other officers shall be elected by the Board of 
Curators, and shall hold office at the pleasure of the Board. 
The President, Vice-Presidents and Corresponding Secre- 
tary shall be elected from among the Curators. 

ARTICLE 5. 

Regular Meetings. 

The Society shall meet annually on the 12th day of 
February, but if said day fall on Friday, Saturday or Sun- 
day, the anniversary shall be celebrated on the following 
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday. The Society 
shall also meet on the first Mondays of May, August and 
November. 

ARTICLE 6. 
Special Meetings. 

Special meetings of the Society may be called by the 
Board of Curators, by the President, or by either of the 
Vice-Presidents and shall be called by the President or 



14 THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 

either of the Vice-Presidents, or the Recording Secretary, 
upon the request of a majority of the Curators present in 
the City or of any five active members. 

ARTICLE 7. 

Election of Members. 

The admission of members shall be by ballot, and nega- 
tive votes amounting to one-fifth of the total number of 
votes cast shall be sufficient to reject any candidate. When 
the Society is not in session members may be elected by 
the Board of Curators. 

ARTICLE 8. 

Eligibility. 

Any person shall be eligible to membership who shall 
be interested in the objects of the Society as set out in 
Article II of this Constitution and desirous of aiding in 
promoting them. 

ARTICLE 9. 

Dues. 

Life members, Corresponding members and Honorary 
members shall pay no dues. Active members shall pay 
annual dues of, men, ten dollars, women, five dollars, payable 
for each calendar year on the 12th day of February of that 
year. Members elected after July first in any year shall 
pay only half the dues for that year. 

ARTICLE 10. 

Quorum. 

Five active members, including at least two Curators, 
shall constitute a quorum and be empowered to transact 
the regular business of the Society ; except at the annual 
meeting, when seven shall constitute a quorum. Proxies 
shall not be counted to make a quorum. 



THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 15 

Whenever any question out of the regular routine busi- 
ness shall come before the Society, particularly any ques- 
tion involving the management of the Telfair Academy 
of Arts and Sciences, such question shall, upon the demand 
of any five Active members, be submitted to a subsequent 
meeting, of which notice ten days previous to the date of 
the meeting shall be given in a public gazette in the City 
of Savannah ; and at said meeting so called at least twenty- 
five Active members of the Society shall be present in 
person or by proxy for the final decision of such question. 

ARTICLE 11. 
Life Members. 

Any member who shall pay into the treasury of the 
Society the sum of one hundred dollars thereby becomes 
a Life member, with all the rights, privileges and disabili- 
ties of an Active member, but shall be exempt from any 
further payment. 

ARTICLE 12. 
Voting. 

Corresponding members and Honorary members shall 
not be entitled to vote. The affairs of the Society shall be 
managed by Life members and Active members, who may 
vote either in person or by written proxy. No person not 
a member shall act as proxy. 

ARTICLE 13. 

Board of Curators. 

Except as otherwise provided herein, all the powers of 
the Society are vested in the Board of Curators. 

ARTICLE 14. 
Term of Office. 

All ofificers shall hold office until the annual meeting 
next succeeding their election, and until their successors 
shall be elected and qualified, subject, however, to the 
pleasure of the Board. 



16 THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 

ARTICLE 15. 

Library. 

The Board of Curators are vested with authority to 
make any contract or arrangement with reference to the 
Library and the use and management thereof which to 
them shall seem best. 

ARTICLE 16. 

Amendments. 

This Constitution can be altered or amended only by 
a vote of two-thirds of the voting members present at a 
meeting, at which not less than twenty members shall be 
present, and then only when notice of the amendment shall 
have been given at a previous meeting, or sent by mail to 
each voting member of the Society not less than one week 
prior to the meeting at which the amendment shall be 
acted on. 



BY-LAWS. 



1. The President shall preside at all meetings of the 
Society, regulate the debates, give when required the cast- 
ing vote, preserve order and be ex-ofificio Chairman of the 
Board of Curators. 

It shall be the further duty of the President, at the an- 
nual meeting, to present a report reviewing the work and 
progress of the Society during the year past; and also set- 
ting forth such changes and aims as the highest interest of 
the Society demand. 

In the absence or disability of the President all his 
duties shall devolve upon the senior Vice-President. 



THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 17 

2. The Corresponding Secretary shall conduct all the 
correspondence of the Society which may be necessary or 
convenient in the carrying out of its business as set out 
in Article II of the Constitution, and shall perform such 
other duties as may from time to time be assigned to him 
by the Society or the Board. He shall preserve on file all 
communications received by him and keep a copy of all 
communications sent by him. It shall furthermore be his 
duty to read at each annual meeting such portions or ab- 
stracts of his correspondence as the President may direct. 

3. The Recording Secretary shall keep the records of 
all meetings and shall perform all other duties usually ap- 
pertaining to the office of Secretary except those prescribed 
for the Corresponding Secretary. 

4. The Treasurer shall act as Secretary of the Com- 
mittee on Finance. He will receive from the Assistant 
Treasurer all the reports required by the By-Laws ; will 
see that they are made out in proper form by the Assistant 
Treasurer, and will present the same as now required; and, 
for the purpose of verifying accounts and familiarizing him- 
self with the financial affairs of the Society, the books of 
the Assistant Treasurer shall be always open to his inspec- 
tion, as well as that of any member of the Board. 

The Board may elect an Assistant Treasurer, who shall 
collect, receive and discharge all moneys due and payable, 
and shall receive and collect all donations and bequests of 
money, or other property, to the Society. He shall pay, 
under proper vouchers, all the ordinary expenses of the 
Society, and shall deposit all its funds in one of the banks 
of the City, to the credit of the Society, subject to his 
checks; and at the annual meeting shall make a true report 
of all moneys received and paid out by him, to be audited 
by the Committee on Finance, provided for hereafter. He 
shall file a complete and accurate roll of the Society at its 
annual meetings. At all regular meetings of the Board he 
shall submit a statement which shall embody the following 
information : 



18 THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 

1. The total membership of the Society. 

2. Amount of dues collected for current year. 

3. Amount of back dues collected. 

4. Amount due for current year. 

5. Amount due for previous year. 

6. Amount paid out. 

7. Amount of liabilities. 

8. Amount of cash on hand. 

9. Amount of insurance on property. 

This statement shall be read at the meeting of the 
Board and again at the regular meeting of the Society next 
following. 

If there be no Assistant Treasurer his duties shall be 
performed by the Treasurer. 

5. It shall be the duty of the Librarian to preserve, 
arrange and keep in good order all books, manuscripts, docu- 
ments, pamphlets and papers of every kind belonging to 
the Society. He shall keep a catalogue of the same and 
charge the books, etc., that may be taken out of the Library, 
under the rules, to the proper persons. He shall also be 
furnished with a book in which to record all donations and 
bequests, of whatsoever kind, relating to his department, 
with the name of the donor, and the time when bestowed. 
He shall enforce the Library rules, by refusing to issue 
books to persons owing for overdue books until such indebt- 
edness shall have been paid ; and all controversies with 
members respecting such dues shall be decided by the 
Library Committee. 

6. The Curators shall meet as soon as practicable 
after the annual meeting and shall elect from their number 
a President, a First and Second Vice-President and a 
Corresponding Secretary. They shall also elect a Recording 
Secretary, a Librarian and a Treasurer. The President shall 
appoint from the Curators the following Standing Com- 
mittees, of which he shall be an ex-ofificio member, to-wit : 
Committee on Printing and Publishing, Committee on 



THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 19 

Finance, Committee on the Telfair Academy, each to con- 
sist of three persons in addition to the President. 

He shall appoint from the Curators a Committee on 
Library, to consist of five persons, who shall be the persons 
designated by this Society as its appointees upon the Public 
Board. He shall appoint the members of this Committee 
as follows : One of them shall serve during the year 1903, 
and his term shall expire on the first day of January, 1904, 
or when his successors shall have been appointed and shall 
have accepted ; one for the years 1903 and 1904, one for 
the years 1903, 1904 and 1905, one for the years 1903, 1904, 
1905 and 1906, one for the years 1903, 1904, 1905, 1906 and 
1907, so that on January the first each year, in 1904, and 
thereafter the terms of one of the said Library Committee 
so appointed shall end, but they, respectively, shall hold 
over until their successors shall have been appointed and 
shall have accepted. And to fill the vacancies occasioned 
by the expiration of said terms the said President shall 
respectively appoint a successor for each of the said Mana- 
gers so passing out, which successor shall hold his office 
on said Board for the term of five years from the first day 
of January in the year when his predecessor's term ends 
or until his successor shall have been appointed and shall 
have accepted. 

7. The Committee on the Library, in addition to the 
duties named in the preceding paragraph, shall have the su- 
pervisory care of the building and grounds, furniture, printed 
publications, manuscripts, curiosities and all property of 
like kind. They shall, with the Librarian, provide suitable 
shelves, cases and fixtures by which to arrange and display 
them. The printed volumes and manuscripts shall be regu- 
larly numbered and marked with the name of the "Georgia 
Historical Society." They shall propose to the Curators 
such books or manuscripts pertaining to the object of the 
Society as they shall deem expedient, which, when approved, 
shall be by them purchased and disposed of as above 
directed. 



20 THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 

Thev shall provide all necessary blank books for the 
use of said department, in which the Librarian shall keep a 
record of their proceedings, and be entrusted in general 
with the custody, care and increase of whatever comes with- 
in the province of their appointed duty. 

8. The Committee on Printing and Publishing shall 
prepare for publication whatever documents or collections 
shall be ordered by the Society; shall contract for and 
supervise the printing of the same, and shall furnish the 
Recording Secretary and the Librarian with such blank 
notices, summonses, labels, etc., as may be deemed requisite. 

9. The Committee on Finance shall consist of at least 
one member of each of the former Committees, and shall 
have the general oversight and direction of the funds of the 
Society and shall audit the Treasurer's annual report. 

10. The Committee on the Telfair Academy of Arts 
and Sciences shall have the general oversight of the lot 
and improvements, books, pictures, statuary, furniture and 
fixtures, devised and bequeathed by the late Miss Mary 
Telfair to the Georgia Historical Society in special trust, 
and of all additions that may be made thereto, in accord- 
ance with her will. They shall bring, from time to time, 
to the notice of the Board such repairs of the Telfair resi- 
dence and such changes and improvements of the adjacent 
premises as may be required to keep and preserve the same 
as a public edifice for a Library and Academy of Arts and 
Sciences. They shall propose and submit to the board a 
plan for the management and care of the institution, and 
the terms and regulations on which it shall be open for the 
use of the public, and such modifications of the same as 
may be suggested by experience. They shall recommend 
to the Board the purchase of books for the Library and 
works of art and science for the Academy. 

To the end of receiving and considering the reports of 
this Committee, of supervising the expenditures for the 
Library and the Academy and generally administering the 
trust fund ; of devising, modifying and maturing a scheme 



THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 21 

to carry into effect in good faith the objects of the Telfair 
devise and bequest, by making the Academy, through its 
books and collections, and if, and when practicable through 
instructions in art and science, an institution of the largest 
public usefulness, the Board shall hold its meetings in the 
Academy building at such times as it shall appoint, provided 
there be one such regular monthly meeting during the 
week next preceding the regular meeting of the Society, 
and to be always prepared to report fully to such last 
mentioned meetings upon the state of the Academy and 
upon its own actings and doings, which shall be subject in 
all things to the revision and approval of the Society, 

11. The Board shall appoint an orator to deliver a 
discourse at each annual meeting and suggest such other 
exercises as shall be appropriate to its celebration. 

12. The Society may authorize any number of mem- 
bers, not less than five, to use the hall and library for the 
meetings of such subsections as may be formed, and 
any such subsection shall have power to place in the 
Library such books and other means of instruction as they 
may choose to procure, without cost to the Society, to be 
freely used by the members thereof in the rooms of the 
Library, the members of the section alone being allowed to 
take such books out of the Library, and then under the rules 
of the same. 

13. Any member failing to pay his annual subscription 
before March 15th shall be warned by notice of his liability 
to be dropped from membership, and such notice shall allow 
him one month in which to pay his dues. In case of his 
failure to do so, the Treasurer shall report his name at the 
next meeting of the Society and his membership shall then 
cease. 

14. The Board of Curators shall meet on the Fridays 
before the regular quarterly meetings and annual meetings 
of the Society. Special meetings may be called by the 
President, or, in 'his absence, by any Vice-President, or by 
any three Curators. Five members of the Board shall con- 



22 THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 

stitute a quorum. The several standing committees shall 
make formal reports to the quarterly meetings of the Board 
of Curators, which reports shall also be read at the next 
regular meeting of the Society. 

15. All motions, resolutions and other matters, directly 
or indirectly affecting or referring to the management of the 
Telfair Academy of Arts and Sciences shall, as a matter of 
course be referred to the Board of Curators, to be by it re- 
ported on at the next ensuing regular meeting, unless 
further time be allowed. 

16. These By-laws may be repealed, amended or added 
to at any regular meeting, or by one publication in a daily 
paper published in Savannah not less than one week prior 
to the meeting. They may likewise be repealed, amended 
or added to by the Board of Curators at any time in their 
discretion, but such amendments shall be inefifective if dis- 
approved by the Society. 



Annual Hefting 
Bt\tmt^-¥xttl] Anntn^rsarg ffl^bbrattnn 



At the meeting of the Society in November, 1913, a 
committee, previously appointed to report upon the advisa- 
bility of celebrating the seventy-fifth anniversary of the 
founding of the Society, recommended that such a celebra- 
tion be held on February 12, 1914. The recommendation 
v^^as adopted, and a committee composed of W. J. DeRenne, 
Samuel B. Adams, J. Randolph Anderson, Otis Ashmore, 
G. Arthur Gordon, B. H. Levy, J. F. Minis, and W. W. 
Williamson, was appointed to formulate and carry out such 
plans as it deemed best for making the celebration a success. 
The program adopted and carried out was briefly as follows : 

On the morning of February 12th, the members of the 
Society and its guests were entertained at Wormsloe by 
Mr. W. J. DeRenne. The day was an ideal one, and the 
visit to the Georgia Library and the Old Fort, together 
with the charming hospitality of the host made the occasion 
one long to be remembered. 

At four o'clock in the afternoon the annual address 
was delivered at the Lawton Memorial by Dr. J. Franklin 
Jameson, head of the department of historical research in 
the Carnegie Institution at Washington, D. C. 

In the evening the Society and its guests enjoyed a 
banquet at the DeSoto hotel. The number who attended 
this banquet was 164 of whom 48 were ladies. Four 
addresses were delivered upon this occasion as follows : 
History : by Hon. Walter G. Charlton. The Thirteen 
Original States : by Rev. M. Ashby Jones, of Augusta. 
South Carolina and Georgia: by Hon. Joseph W. Barnwell, 



24 THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 

President of the South Carolina Historical Society. Georgia 
of To-day: by His Excellency, John M. Slaton, Governor 
of Georgia. Mr. Barnwell was not able to attend the 
banquet on account of illness, and Mr. Lawton B. Evans of 
Augusta responded to the sentiment of his address in a 
very appropriate impromptu speech. 

The occasion was most enjoyable and successful in 
every way. The annual reports, and the addresses so far 
as it has been possible to obtain them, follow. 






Mr. President and Members of the Georgia Historical 
Society, Ladies and Gentlemen : 

As I approach the exploitation of the theme which 
has been assigned to me, I congratulate myself that it is a 
Savannah audience to which I will speak. It is of the 
generous nature of Savannahians to listen with patience 
and apparent enthusiasm to any response — a happy con- 
dition emphasized by the fact that the speaker is not 
expected to be wise or profound or exhaustive nor the 
audience to give indications that it is swaying on the 
verge of impatience. The unwritten law is, if the subject 
may not be developed in ten minutes, the developer simply 
must not take sixty; if he is expected to write a sketch, he 
is not expected to follow in the footsteps of Buckle or 
Kirby and Spence and present a three volume introduction. 
History! What is History? I confess I do not know. Will 
we ever know, or will it enthuse us when we find the 
answer? When it comes to plain facts, Herodotus is not 
so far removed from Alice in Wonderland, and yet a pre- 
cisian like Thucydides did not hesitate to make speeches 
for his historical characters which they never made nor 
could have made. You may select any of the volumes of 
Gibbon and with the spell of that genius upon you read 
until there is little time left for sleep, and all the while the 
doubt is with us whether we are following the decline and 
fall of an empire or the processes of "an iron will sapping 
with iron strength an iron creed." There is more of the 
human being than historian about Macaulay, and this does 
not put us on alarm. The one thing we do not exact of 
History is accuracy. We clamor for it and denounce the 



26 THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 

tendency to rush after the glaring and the spectacular, but 
when the band begins to play and the flags to wave and 
the tramp of the warriors sounds on the highways, we 
follow with cheers and exact of the teller of the story that 
he record our impressions and not the truth. A great man 
or a great deed will occasionally pass down the corridors 
of time under the chaperonage of the Muse of History, but 
we may be very sure that the procession which follows 
will have in it the repellent figures of malice and slander 
and perversion, perversion by expression, perversion by 
silence. If the Muse must escort all of our great in this 
parlous time of ours, she is not without her embarrass- 
ments ; and we can sympathize with her if she puts av^^ay 
her flowing robes and appears upon the scene narrowed as 
to skirts ; broadened as to coat, aigretted as to head, with a 
tasteful legend in gold and green across her breast ; and with 
the powder of peace upon her engaging features, and the 
powder of war veiling with its murky shadows the fascinat- 
ing depths of her beautiful eyes. What is History? Is it 
the bare accumulation of dates and names and events ; the 
lurid spectacle of stark battlefields ; the swaying columns 
and crashing walls of empires ; the tragedy of crushed 
hopes and the vision of mouldering ideals? Or is it the 
science of the ages ; the deduction of great and vital 
principles formulated in the cold, precise expressions of 
definite conclusions, appealing to reason and not to emotion, 
logic rather than enthusiasm, to the selfishness of preserva- 
tion and not to the wild abandon of patriotism? When we 
approac'h its domain are we to deaden our hearing to 
the beating of the drums and the blasts of the bugle; 
close our eyes to the glitter of the bayonets and the gleam 
of the sabre, the banners streaming in the smoke and glare 
of the combat? Or are we with atrophied memories and 
selfish consideration to search for the bare results of human 
struggles and human tragedy that the plodder along 
the highways of life may be advised when he comes to 
the parting of the ways that to the right is an abyss filled 



THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 27 

with the skeletons of dead governments and to the left 
the waste and desolation of ice-bound deserts? If we are 
to hear no more the soft voice of the Muse of poetry singing 
of the deeds which made men great, and beguile our hours 
with nothing more entrancing than the epitaphs of noble 
causes — why do we not take to heart the lessons and 
warnings of History, and if necessary, turn back to the 
things which mean life and liberty and dignity and char- 
acter? Why travel along the Appian Way with its ruins 
and travesties and inglorious endings when we may walk 
the Georgia roads with Georgia History in our hearts and 
Georgia's victories singing in our memories ! Are we 
never to cause questioning when we consider history? 
Would any one read history with more pleasure than he 
would break rocks on the street if it consisted of Carlyle's 
account of the ancestry of Frederick the Great! Is History 
meant to be the crystallized pathos of human endeavor 
toward noble ends, adorned by the interpreting graces of 
literature and appealing to the enthusiasm of the patriot 
and the sympathy of the good and true? Is Napoleon with 
folded arms and scowling brow, trampling on the hopes 
and destinies of mankind; posing before pyramids, and 
leaving his army to struggle with hunger and despair and 
misery as it stumbled along the ice-bound roads of Russia, 
any more of history than the poor stupid King of the 
French, escorted by the mob to the end of all things whilst 
they sang the cheerful song "Where can one be happier 
than in the bosom of his family?" If the test of true great- 
ness is to be found in the elaborate display of printer's ink, 
why is not Thaw greater than either? Does it make any 
difiference whether Marbot really rode up the hill at Eylau 
or only dreamed he did! We nevertheless see his return 
charge, the cannon ball crashing through his hat, and his 
Italian mare tearing out the faces of the obstructing 
enemies. Be the facts what they may, it is Macaulay's 
description of Walker at Londonderry which will live; and 
Horatius at the Bridge: and Regulus in bonds, and the 



28 THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 

narrow pass at Thermopylae, and the deep-hued waters of 
Salamis; and, with mental reservations, Spartacus and 
Casabianca. And whenever a monster appears in Crete, 
we pray that another Theseus will arise in Athens. We 
may preach forever the austerity of History ; its natural 
isolation from the allurements which the topics of human 
action throw out; its stolid impartiality. That is the theory 
of the History we affect. What we desire is another mat- 
ter. Victory and retreat ; the sweeping charge ; the tramp 
of the march; legions and brigades and regiments; armies 
and generals and privates; those who strive and conquer, 
those who strive and fail — this is the array which swarm 
into our thoughts. The suffering and sacrifice ; the broken 
hearts and smiling faces ; the prisons and "white washed 
halls," how they throng into our hearts and memories, shap- 
ing our lives, bending the strong with pity and putting 
the stamp of triumph upon the features of the weak! If 
History dealt only with results, its terms would be 
measurably pronounced. It is in the consideration of 
causes that the historian encounters his bad quarter of an 
hour. Great movements and great events have their begin- 
nings in some trifling act or mood or word, a frown or a 
smile, a phase of nature, or a molecule in the eye. If Drouet 
had been hired to change the horses he would not have 
peered into the stolid face of Louis the Sixteenth and there 
might never have been lanterns ornamented with swaying 
forms, nor tumbrils and guillotines. The literary canity of 
a member of the committee on style caused the omission 
from the preamble to the Constitution of the names of the 
States, and put in action the processes which culminated 
in four years of bitter warfare. A storm ofif Hatteras gave 
the Governor of South Carolina just time to meet the 
treacherous expedition to Sumter. The historian who can 
trace causes and their formative course through the life of 
a people, and tell the truth and nothing but the truth is 
yet to be born. The temptation is overwhelming in deduc- 
ing general principles from facts to distort facts to 



THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 29 

suit general principles, and to distort narrative into a con- 
formity with theory is to become a renegade to truth. We 
have been makers of history and we have left to others 
the work of perverting what we have done. We are cast- 
ing aside as intolerable burdens the deeds and traditions 
whic'h were wrought and held by the Georgians who 
preceded us. As we hurry along in the mad rush for the 
dross which glitters, we abandon the precious things which 
made it worth while to make a State and save it. Aeneas 
who took with him his household gods was a reactionary. 
We are of the progressives, straining our sinews to fol- 
low at the elbow of every long-'haired demagogue who, 
changing his topic at every stride, discourses on subjects 
as new to him as the customs of the planet Mars and 
as old in fact as the rustiest piece of junk in the dust heap 
of the centuries. Possibly we may be fortunate if when 
our history comes to be narrated, the patient writer after 
he has told of the great and noble things in which Georgians 
have done in peace and war, will pause at our day and 
through sheer kindliness of purpose write us an epitaph 
which will recall that which Carlyle inscribed over the 
ancestry of Frederick the Great. We who gather here 
to-night to celebrate the young-old age of this honorable 
institution which stands guard over the History of Georgia, 
how could we better the conditions under which we live 
by forgetting the record of this military colony, this sover- 
eign State ! What we and our ancestors gained was got- 
ten at the point of the bayonet; lived through the merciless 
storm of shot and shell, oppression and despair, poverty 
and bereavement. We are here celebrating anything 
because those whose blood flows in our veins cared neither 
for wounds or death if Georgia might live and if with this 
majestic past behind us we pass our days throwing to right 
and left the priceless heritage which is ours, why should 
History concern itself with what we think or do? What 
History teaches us — the plain, practical, everyday History 
we aflfect to desire — is that the best theory of government 



30 THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 

the world has ever known is within the four corners of the 
Constitution, and the substitutes we are invited to adopt 
have had their day and gone through the blood and smoke 
and disaster into the darkness of oblivion. I may not speak 
to you in detail of the history of Georgia when those who 
follow me may dwell in thought and words on that theme. 
Being a Georgian, it is permissible for me to recall for a 
few minutes upon what my faith is founded. The world in 
its centuries has produced few epics: Here in this 
domain is one. As the years roll back there comes to us 
the only benevolent colony in the world, the only military 
colony in America. Elsewhere, the smoke of conflict; the 
burning homes; the settler with his rifle; the savage with 
the scalps dangling at 'his waist. Here, before the sun went 
down on that auspicious day when the great Englishman 
joined hands with the great Indian, were peace and amity 
and comradeship. There is no oppression. The lambent 
flames of superstition twist about no tortured forms. As 
the western sun lays its golden touch upon the bending 
marsh, through winding creeks and gleaming bays the scant 
force moves on its way to the south, and from where the 
whispering pines cast their shadows toward the sea, is 
heard the rattle of musketry, as on Georgia's soil is fought 
to its conclusion the old conflict between England and 
Spain, determining for all times that here should be the 
speech and civilization of our race. And there come to us 
visions of Tondee's Tavern and t'he Boys of Liberty; the 
Parish of St. John ; the vessel manned by Georgians going 
out on the tide to victory ; the undisguised Georgians 
who made prisoner the English ruler. And then the days 
of sufifering and wounds, and death. The battle of 78, the 
battle of '79; the prison ships; the shot-torn frames, and 
poverty and sacrifice, and brave women and brave men, and 
at last — Liberty ! Colony, Republic, State, and all the 
anguish and grief and hardships that Georgia might live. 
And then the days of peace with its ventures which drew 
the attention of the world — its laws, its literature, its com- 



THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 31 

merce. Jackson at Louisville upholding the honor of the 
State. Troup in the governor's chair uttering the final 
word on the sovereignty of the State. Whenever duty 
called, Georgia answering. In Florida to-day; in Mexico 
to-morrow, and then again war. A great issue made by a 
people knowing the history of their country, the history 
of the Constitution, the history of the causes which led to 
strife. Again, suffering and sacrifice for principle; wounds 
and death ; the terrific combats ; women in the habiliments 
of woe and with the smile of triumph on their faces ; men 
charging on every battlefield; with torn shoes and ragged 
uniforms marching along every historic way. With Jackson 
in the Valley; with Jackson in the Wilderness. With Lee 
on the Rappahannock, and Malvern Hill and Gettysburg 
and Appomattox. Now charging the foe at Chicamauga, 
now at Kennesaw on the retreat. McAllister on the left, 
the Savannah on the right. Georgians on sea and on land. 
And at last, defeat and reconstruction, and through all the 
dark night, Georgia in their 'hearts and memories, until at 
last the dawn began to break and with the glory of the 
rising sun, once more free ; with a Georgian at our head, 
and our ideals and traditions safe, and the Georgia that we 
love standing upright before the world in dignity and 
strength — the sovereign State about whose destiny we had 
closed our ranks when the issue of life and death con- 
fronted her. God save the State, and all her rights 
preserve ! The right to live. The right to hope. The right 
to gather within our protective strength the memories of the 
days and men which made and kept her great. The right to 
be free and brave and tender. In stress, in storm ; when 
on our path the shadows which signal the coming of the 
night shall closer creep, and the elemental fury of impend- 
ing change lifts its mad cries, give us the strength to fight 
and die that liberty may live. And grant us at the last to 
rest within her embracing earth, and from the silence and 
the gloom send up into the flooding light our messages 
of faith and trust. 



32 THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 

I wonder if in anywhere 

The sky will be so blue to me ! 

Or spring so green the budding tree ; 

Or from the restless, foaming sea 

Come breeze so fair, 

I do but know that when to dust 
My heart hath turned, and in her sod 
Hath changed to bloom, in every rod 
On which it glows, the loving God 
Will somehow mark it with my trust. 






We have come together to celebrate, with congratula- 
tion and admiring retrospect, the seventy-fifth anniversary 
of the Georgia Historical Society. From the small range 
of subjects upon which I could speak in response to your 
committee's invitation, I have chosen as my theme the 
History of Historical Societies. But may we not profitably 
ask ourselves, at the beginning, why such organizations as 
historical societies should exist at all? A strange question, 
some will say, to ask on such an occasion as this. We 
should not be here, assembled in this hall for such a purpose 
as that which has brought us together, if we were not 
entirely committed to the belief that historical societies 
are worth while. Yes, it is indeed axiomatic to as that 
historical societies ought to exist and to flourish, but on 
the other hand it is by no means axiomatic to all the world. 
Each of us has friends who care nothing for history. (I 
myself have not now one relative who regards it as really 
interesting, though fortunately for me my father and my 
grandfather were devoted to it.) To many a man it is strange 
that we should be addicted to such a pursuit. Many would 
sympathize with the condemned criminal in the old Italian 
story, who when given his choice of punishment, either to 
row in the galleys or to read through the numerous tomes 
of Guicciardini's history of the civil wars of Florence, 
cheerfully chose the life of the galley slave. To a majority 
of our fellow citizens the building of a historical society is 
a strange place in which to spend one's time. 

It is good for us, even on a festal occasion like this 
to face these facts. In a world now governed by public 
opinion, no organization can flourish that cannot set up a 



34 THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 

rational defense for its existence. It is possible to say, 
"I belong to a historical society because such is my per- 
sonal taste." It is possible for a historical society to live, 
that is to say, not absolutely to die, which refuses to care 
what the great public thinks, places itself on no broader 
basis than the personal taste its members have for his- 
torical reading and inquiry, and devotes itself in cloistered 
seclusion to these pursuits. But a really live society will 
never take such a position. It will be glad to be put upon 
the defensive, proudly conscious that it has a sufficient 
defense for its existence and its claims. It will not ignore 
a public opinion that regards history with indifference or 
amused tolerance and thinks of historical students as put- 
tering antiquarians. On the contrary, its members will 
act in the full consciousness that such opinions are current, 
will keep the great public constantly in mind, and will 
strive so to conduct its operations that their fruits shall 
be useful to the whole body of their fellow citizens, and 
that in the end all their fellow citizens shall perceive them 
to be useful. 

Historical societies exist, first, because men believe 
history to be a useful and important pursuit, and secondly, 
because they perceive that certain parts of its work are 
best carried on by organization. That history has a high 
value for human society has been felt by many minds from 
the time when historical writing began. Only by survey- 
ing the slow development of human nature, the slow trans- 
formations of human institutions, through long periods of 
past time, can we gather wisdom as to their development 
through the long ages of the future, or shape measures 
wisely for the conduct of human afifairs in the years immedi- 
ately before us. He that has any confidence in the value of 
experience — and who has not? — will value history, (foir 
whereas the experiences of a single life furnish deductions 
drawn from only a few years and a narrow range of the 
earth and its inhabitants, history can lay before us wisdom 
based on the widest inferences from the whole range of 



THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 35 

human character and conduct. Almost our only means of 
knowing what men will do, is our knowledge of what men 
have done; almost our only means of judging what meas- 
ures it is expedient for our fellow citizens to adopt lies in 
our sense, based on the history of the past, of the effects 
likely to follow, in a body of population shaped by such 
influences as those to which the various strands in our 
national fibre have been subjected. The whole civiliza- 
tion of the present has its roots deep in the past, and can 
never be understood save through a searching study of 
origins. 

Perhaps we may say that the study of history has espe- 
cial claims upon a composite nation. Such a nation starts 
out upon its career with an enormous advantage arising 
from the very diversity of the elements of which it is com- 
posed. Purity of blood, if modern anthropology has left 
any nation in a position to lay claim to it, is no longer 
regarded as an asset. The Anglo-Irishman is a superior 
being to either the Englishman or the Celt. The mingling 
of the nations in northern Italy, in northern France, in old 
Brandenburg and in new Canada, makes for progress and 
for efficiency. But assuming all the initial advantages of 
composite origin, its elements can obtain their due results 
in national effectiveness only on condition that they are 
kneaded into a homogeneous mas's, that out of pluribus they 
really do become unum. This solidarity, this sense of 
national unity, is only to be achieved by increase of mutual 
understanding and sympathy, and, with all the good that is 
done by travel, by business connections, by a common 
literature and system of education, and by working together 
for national ends, it is doubtful if anything makes more for 
sympathetic comprehension and national unity than the 
study of history. On the one hand this America, this melting 
pot of the races, is to be helped toward unity and national 
effectiveness by appreciative study of German history, of 
Irish history, of Scandinavian history, of the history of the 
Jew and of the Greek, of the negro and of the Slav. On the 



36 THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 

other hand the remaining vestiges of provincialism are to 
be swept away by attentive investigation of the develop- 
ment of American life in every state and every region alike. 
We are assembled upon the birthday of Abraham 
Lincoln. Fifty years ago you men and women of Georgia 
■thought of him as the representative of the alien and a 
hostile power. Now, I suppose there is none of us who does 
not think of him chiefly as one who worked for the preser- 
vation of the Union — our Union. In 1914 the members of 
the Georgia Historical Society have invited a man of 
Massachusetts origin to address them at their anniversary 
commemoration. Fifty years ago, how unlikely this would 
have been ! Today, we have perhaps not given it a thought. 
We are all simply Americans, bound together by a common 
devotion to the study of history. I was to have brought 
with me, and but for some delay of the mail should have 
here, a collection of family photographs, which a friend 
in the remotest of the Pacific states has sent me on behalf 
of one of his colleagues. Fifty years ago, during Sherman's 
march, they were taken from a Georgia plantation by one of 
his relatives; he wished me to take advantage of this 
occasion, when members of many Georgia families are 
assembled, to see if the photographs cannot be identified 
and restored to those to whom they rightfully belong. How 
natural and obvious this seems — in 1914! But must we 
not see how large a part in this priceless development of 
fraternal feeling and national consciousness has been played 
by the study of American history? Before the Civil War 
its place in education was slight; now it is studied each 
year by perhaps ten million school children and fifty thou- 
sand undergraduates in universities and colleges, while at 
least five hundred graduate students are making it the 
main object of their lives. It can be affirmed with confi- 
dence that if the study of American history had had such 
a place in the United States of sixty and seventy years 
ago, carrying its messages of mutual understanding into 



THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 37 

every village, North and South and East and West, the 
terrible conflict would never have occurred. 

But if we feel able to stand up before an indifferent 
and Philistine world and stoutly maintain the value of his- 
tory, it is not dif^cult to demonstrate the utility of his- 
torical societies. History is an expensive business. To a 
large extent, it consists in putting together data which, 
before the historian laid his co-ordinating hand upon them, 
were widely scattered through numberless books and 
pamphlets and newspapers and manuscripts. Almost never 
can be, even when working in a quite restricted field, afford 
the time or the money to collect all the material needful to 
his purpose. If most of it has not already been brought 
together somewhere, he either recoils before the under- 
taking which he proposed to himself, or chooses an easier 
and less valuable theme, or dies before he has finished his 
painful process of collecting. Often history has, for these 
reasons, been a rich man's pursuit. But division of labor 
is a natural resource of mankind in intellectual as well as 
in industrial occupations, and the votaries of history have 
not failed to perceive the advantages of organization. 

Before historical societies were thought of, many of 
these advantages were secured by the discipline of mon- 
astic establishments, in which pious brethren, laboring 
patiently for the glory of God and of their order, accumu- 
lated materials for the use of some brother 'having excep- 
tional gifts for historical composition, or perhaps of the 
quite different historians of our age. In the seventeenth 
and eighteenth centuries vast series of documentary 
volumes were prepared and published by special organi- 
zations of ecclesiastics, formed for the purpose, such as the 
Benedictines of the Congregation of St. Maur, to whom we 
owe such multitudes of scholarly tomes, or the Society of 
Bollandists, who began in 1629 their great series of the 
Acta Sanctorum and are still at work upon it, two hundred 
and seventy years later. 



38 THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 

When secular organizations for the collecting and pub- 
lis'hing of historical materials began to come into existence, 
they did not usually bear the modern form, which this 
society represents, of private endowed societies. It was 
natural in those days to look to the State for support, pat- 
ronage, and guidance, and the state was the monarch. 
Therefore we find the institution of royal academies, con- 
sisting of a small number of scholars selected by the crown, 
sustained by the crown, and entrusted by the crown with 
general labors on behalf of scholarship in various fields or 
with specific tasks in the particular field of history. It is 
true that the "academy" was at first, in the old Italian 
cities in which the institution originated, most commonly 
a private group of dilettanti, and it is true that some of the 
most celebrated royal academies had their origin in private 
groups of associates, subsequently adopted by royal favor. 
But how difficult it was to maintain such societies inde- 
pendent of the monarch is shown by the early history of 
what may in a sense be called the most venerable of pres- 
ent-day historical societies, the Society of Antiquaries, of 
London. That society was originally founded in 1572, in 
Queen Elizabeth's time, by Matthew Parker, her arch- 
bishop of Canterbury, Sir Robert Cotton, and other learned 
men. It used to meet at first in Sir Robert Cotton's house, 
in the Cloisters at Westminster. In 1589 it applied for a 
charter of incorporation as "an Academy for the Study of 
Antiquities and History," with what result does not appear. 
But James I. dissolved it in 1604, for fear, as we are told, 
that the society might pry too much into the secrets of 
government, and it remained in abeyance for over a cen- 
tury, when in 1707, meetings of learned men began again 
to be held in its name. Originally these meetings were 
held at the Bear Tavern, afterwards at the Fountain in 
Fleet Street and other similar places. The meeting began 
with a dinner, probably at three or four o'clock in the 
afternoon. Afterward they sat with punch and pipes of 
tobacco around a long table and discoursed of historical 



THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 39 

and antiquarian matters ; and in 1751, when they had long 
been perceived to be harmless, George II. gave them their 
charter of incorporation. 

Meanwhile, however, in countries less free from gov- 
ernmental supervision than Great Britain, the development 
of means for doing the expensive work of collecting and 
publishing historical materials had all been along the lines 
of the Royal Academy. Private societies had found their 
means inadequate without governmental aid. Upon the 
ruins of one such attempt, ambitiously styled the Collegium 
Historicum Imperiale, but with a basis broadened to include 
the whole circle of the sciences, the encyclopaedic Leibniz, 
philosopher, theologian, mathematician, jurist, historian, 
scientist, had with the aid^of the elector and electress of 
Brandenburg, soon to become king and queen of Prussia, 
erected in 1700 the splendid fabric of the Prussian Academy 
of Sciences, today the most important of such institutions, 
and which for two hundred years has performed most not- 
able services to history. 

The next year, 1701, saw the foundation in Paris of 
the Academy of Inscriptions, which likewise has for two 
centuries taken history for a part of its wide province. 
It took its rise from a committee of the French Academy 
appointed by Colbert to advise in framing inscriptions for 
medals. A little later this committee was entrusted with 
the equally humble task of searching mythology for sub- 
jects for the tapestries of the Grand Monarch and assist- 
ing to plan the fetes of Versailles; but in 1701 a fresh 
decree organized the Academy of Inscriptions, and charged 
it to frame a general description of the antiquities and 
monuments of France, Ten honorary members, ten salaried 
members, ten associates, and ten pupils or understudies — 
such was its provision for the endowment of historical and 
antiquarian research. 

Academies continued to develop along two lines. 
There were on the one hand the great general academies, 
such as the famous Academy of Sciences at St. Petersburg, 



40 THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 

founded by Peter the Great in 1724, that which George II. 
established at Gottingen in 1752, and the Bavarian Academy 
instituted at Munich by the elector Max Joseph in 1759. 
On the other hand there came into existence in certain 
countries during the same general period, the middle por- 
tion of the eighteenth century, royal academies devoted 
solely or mainly to history. Thus, in 1738 King Phillip V. 
of Spain established the Royal Academy of History at 
Madrid, which has distinguished itself by a variety of 
important publications of historical materials, such as 
series of the journals of the Cortes of Castile and Aragon. 
The Royal Danish Society for National History and Lan- 
guage was founded in 1746; the Royal Swedish Academy 
of Science, History and Antiquities in 1753. 

A question of some interest, though not perhaps of 
grave importance, has sometimes been mooted, as to priority 
among the historical societies of the world. Which is the 
oldest historical society of the world? Is any older than 
the Massachusetts Historical Society, the first of such in 
America? As in many another question of priority, the 
answer depends on one's definitions. These academies of 
the mid-eighteenth century devoted to history alone were 
royal foundations, not private societies ; their members 
were appointed by the crown, their fund supplied from the 
public treasury; but their objects were the same as those 
of our modern historical societies, and their publications 
were in general of the same two classes, papers read by 
the members, such as a modern society puts into its "Pro- 
ceedings," and collections of documentary historical 
material, original sources for the work of historians, such 
as a modern society puts into its series labelled "Collec- 
tions." The Society of Antiquaries of London, on the 
other hand, may be said to have devoted itself rather to 
antiquarian than to historical studies during most of its 
existence, and this is true. But its charter stated both as 
its objects, and most of our American historical societies 
were far* from drawing a strict line, in their early publica- 



THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 41 

tions, between what is historical and what is merely anti- 
quarian. Indeed, it is not wholly certain just how that 
line is to be drawn. Perhaps we may say that "anti- 
quarian" means that which relates to past times but is too 
unimportant for the historian to trouble himself with it, or 
that the antiquary is concerned with the fortunes of things, 
the historian with those of men and of states ; but even so, 
it is to be feared that he who thumbs the early volumes of 
our American historical societies will find in them many a 
contribution which must be classed as antiquarian, and I 
for my part should not be disposed to deny any claim 
which the venerable Society of Antiquaries might make, to 
be the oldest of existing historical societies. 

The period of the French Revolution and of the 
Napoleonic w^ars was on the whole unfavorable to the culti- 
vation of history. The partisans of the Revolution, in 
every country, abhorred and despised the past. Their 
passionate desire w^as, to return to nature, to create a nev/ 
heaven and a new earth. The first step in their reconstruc- 
tion of human society was to be precisely the disregarding 
of what had been. Wherever the Revolution prevailed, the 
learned medieval work of the academies and the monastic 
establishments was rudely broken up, and the revulsion 
against history had full sway. Napoleon indeed established, 
or permitted the establishment, in 1805, of the Society of 
Antiquaries of France ; but Celtic antiquities no doubt 
seemed to him a very safe occupation for his subjects. 

But with the outward fall of the Revolution competing 
tendencies took new life. The romantic movement, the 
desire to restore and strengthen ligitimate monarchy, the 
sense that after all a new wx)rld had come into existence, 
the perception that unsuspected forces in human nature had 
been evoked and would henceforth play a dominant part in 
public life, all conspired to cause an enthusiastic interest 
in history. In every country in Europe the period from 
1820 to 1850 was marked by the work of historians of the 
highest class — such men as Guizot, Mignet, Thiers, 



42 THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 

Niebuhr, Macaulay and Grote. Not less remarkable a sign 
was the multiplication of historical societies during this 
period, societies organized by private means in response 
to a general conviction that history was worth while, not 
institutions founded by the munificence of enlightened 
princes only, as the academies of a hundred years before 
had been. For instance, in Great Britain we have, in the 
thirty years from 1812 to 1842, the foundation of nearly a 
dozen important societies devoted to publication wholly or 
largely historical. Within very nearly the same period 
falls the foundation of several influential French, German, 
and Italian societies; of the first general historical society 
for all Switzerland; of the chief Dutch historical society, 
that still centered at Utrecht; of the Icelandic Literary 
Society; of the Society of Northern Antiquaries, at Copen- 
hagen; and of the principal Russian historical and anti- 
quarian association. 

At the present time there are doubtless more than 
fifty historical societies in England, three hundred in 
France, four hundred in Germany. The bibliography of their 
publications runs to thousands of titles. Some are national 
in their scope, some confine their studies to the history of 
a particular region or province, many are devoted solely to 
the events and development of a still more restricted local- 
ity. Some of these latter, despite their narrow field, have 
done work of the most notable value, such as the many 
volumes with which the Surtees Society has illustrated the 
history of old Northumbria, those of the Oxford Historical 
Society founded by that vivacious spirit, the late John 
Richard Green, or those of the Society for the History of 
Paris. In the highly cultivated society of western Europe 
support is found for many specialized societies, cultivating 
in many cases fields of rare interest — in Paris for instance 
the Society of the Latin Orient, notable for its work in the 
domain of the Crusades, in London the Selden Society for 
legal history, the Hakluyt Society for the history of voyages 
and discoveries, the Navy Records Society, the Palestine 



THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 43 

Pilgrim Text Society, the Jewish Historical Society, and 
the like. It is not too high an estimate, to suppose that 
there are a thousand historical societies in Europe. 

Some of these European historical societies have 
exceedingly interesting places of meeting, as is natural in 
lands where so many structures of venerable antiquity 
remain. I remember, for instance, with peculiar pleasure a 
visit to the meeting place of the historical society of the 
canton of Neuchatel, in Switzerland. The society does not 
need to maintain a library, contenting itself with a splendid 
collection made jointly by the canton and the university. 
Therefore it can with freedom have its place for monthly 
meetings at a little distance from the heart of the city. 
Three miles out, in a romantic valley, stands the ancient 
castle of the counts of Valangin, a fine medieval structure 
possessing every accessory that a typical castle should have 
— dungeons, torture-chambers, oubliette, chapel, boudoir, 
secret passages, gates and turrets, battlements and winding 
stairs — and kept in excellent preservation by the cantonal 
government. Here, in an imposing room \v'hicli was once 
the hall of the counts of Valangin and is surrounded by the 
portraits of former princes of Neuchatel, the cantonal his- 
torical society, a body of excellent scholars, holds its stated 
sessions. A feature of the furnishings which would hardly 
be copied among us is the set of oaken arm-chairs of antique 
design, one for each member, on the back of which is carved 
his individual coat-of-arms, for it is assumed that a member 
of the Neuchatel Historical Society is a gentleman of 
ancient descent, and even in democratic Switzerland such 
things are regarded. 

In some respects American historical societies have a 
good deal to learn from those of Europe. On the whole, 
the papers which appear in their proceedings are written 
with a much greater fulness of historical knowledge, and 
their documentary collections are edited with more com- 
plete scholarship. Even the publications of those which are 
quite local in scope seem to be much less at the mercy of 



44 THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 

zealous but untrained and provincial amateurs than is the 
case with us. They seem to have closer connections with 
the class of those who, as university professors and in 
similar positions, are occupied with the broader aspects of 
the national history, and to derive more profit from such 
association than our local historical societies are prone to 
do. I have been struck, for instance, with the difference 
between the manner in which provincial and local historical 
societies in France sometimes deal with the history of the 
French Revolution and that in which the American Revolu- 
tion is treated by our societies. Rarely do the latter rise 
beyond the consideration of local military engagements, the 
minutiae of which are pursued with a zeal worthy of a bet- 
ter cause. At the worst, they devote precious pages to the 
dry printing of endless muster-rolls. Seldom would one 
gain from them the notion that the American Revolution 
was anything else than a war, a long series of battles and 
skirmishes, obviously small in scale, yet invested with 
more glory to the acre than was ever raised before on 
terrestrial surfaces. Yet nothing can be clearer than that 
the whole series of military events which marked the 
securing of independence was of less importance than the 
transformation of American society which went on in those 
same years — the making of republican constitutions, the 
growth toward political equality, the development of 
parties, the confiscation and redistribution of landed 
estates, the abolition of entails and primogeniture and other 
reforms of the land law, the influx of population into the 
West, the beginnings of manufacturing, the shiftings of 
commerce, the abolition of the slave trade and in some 
cases of slavery, the quick increase of the press, and the 
reorganization of religion. Of all these things, of the 
history of the American Revolution as a social movement, 
of the shifting of American society, in those years, to some- 
thing approaching its modern basis, I see very little in the 
transactions of our historical societies. They seem to take 
conventional or traditional views of their subject, and not 



THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 45 

often enough to stop and ask themselves what things in 
history are really important. Meanwhile the local histori- 
cial societies of France have been doing a great deal to 
illustrate the history of the French Revolution as a social 
movement, as a movement in legislation, in economics, in 
land tenure, in religious and charitable organizations, in the 
relations of classes, in public opinion. Thirty years ago 
French Revolution was known as a dramatic series of 
political conflicts in Paris, accompanied by foreign wars. 
If at the present time we know its history, both political 
and social, as a French Revolution and not solely as a 
Parisian revolution, if we know with some completeness 
what it meant to all France, this is in no small measure due 
to the intelligent work of the local historical societies, 
which have given us, section by section, a picture of the 
whole great transformation. 

Another way in which we might learn something from 
the European historical societies is in respect to the steady 
maintenance of means for mutual co-operation. Our own 
societies, especially in the Old Thirteen states, are a little 
prone to work in isolation. It is a natural result of that 
state pride or sentiment of local attachment which plays so 
large a part amid the motives for forming and maintaining 
such organizations, but it tends to provincialism in the 
results. The American Historical Association has put 
forth considerable efforts toward drawing state and local 
historical societies into closer relations, by maintaining 
each year, at the time of its annual meetings, a conference 
of those interested in the work of such societies, but not 
many of the Eastern societies send delegates or take the 
occasion seriously. Many make no reply to the annual 
questionary through which alone the general progress of 
the movement can be recorded. Co-operation among the 
historical societies of the Mississippi Valley is much more 
advanced. For several years they have been engaged 
together in one large and important co-operative endeavor, 
the making in Paris of a calendar of all the papers in the 



46 THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 

French archives relating to the history of the Mississippi 
Valley. This, when finished and published, will be of great 
service to American historical scholarship, revealing thou- 
sands of interesting documents hitherto unknown and pre- 
venting much wasteful duplication by several societies, in 
the matter of copying and printing. Now the English 
archives present many similar opportunities for profitable 
co-operation on the part of the historical societies of the 
Atlantic states, but they have preferred to go forward with- 
out concert, pursuing the processes of historical publication 
in a somewhat miscellaneous fashion, each in accordance 
with its own local programme and without much knowledge 
of what the others were doing or were likely to do. 

For sixty years the Germans have maintained a federa- 
tion of historical societies, with an organ which prints 
reports from its constituent bodies. For sixteen years they 
have maintained biennial meetings in which representatives 
of historical societies and those officials who edit the histori- 
cal publications of the German states come together to con- 
sider the many problems which they have in common, and 
also to provide for co-operative work on historical atlases 
of Germany. Since 1893 the five great German academies 
of sciences, those of Berlin, Vienna, Munich, Leipsic, and 
Gottingen, have been joined in a Cartell or trust for the 
pursuing of large joint undertakings, some of which are 
historical ; and in 1901 the eighteen chief academies of the 
world united to form, for common purposes, mostly trans- 
cending the powers of any one country, the International 
Association of Academies. 

In France, where centralized administration has been so 
much the mode, we should naturally expect that the govern- 
ment would long since have taken the initiative in the 
federating of historical societies ; and so it did, as far back 
as 1834, when Guizot was minister of public instruction. 
That vigilant and resourceful statesman instituted in that 
year the Committee of Historical Work's (Comite des 
Travaux Historiques), one of whose functions was to keep 



THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 47 

a superintending eye upon the work of the local historical 
societies, to encourage them by prizes and to guide their 
labors into paths that should lead to the larger results 
attainable by co-operation. If the effects have not been all 
that was desired or expected, an excellent bibliography of 
all the publications of the French historical societies has 
been issued, excellent instructions for the guidance of 
various sorts of historical work have been put forth, and 
useful annual congresses of the societies have been held, 
one year in Paris the next in some one of the provincial 
cities. Their programmes are devised by the governmental 
authorities with a view of eliciting good work upon those 
local topics whose study is of most service to the general 
history of France. 

America has never had many of those societies which 
devote themselves to special aspects of history, such as 
societies for chiirch history or naval history or the like, 
but it has greatly abounded in societies devoted to the 
history of particular states or counties or other localities, 
and it has developed in the West an interesting special 
variety of state-supported historical society, ingeniously 
articulated with the state government. We have now 
nearly five hundred historical societies, and nearly all are 
of the state or local class. Indeed the early date at which, 
in comparison with Europe, the founding of historical 
societies in America began, was doubtless connected with 
the origin of our states. To the minds of the present day 
the period of the Revolution is chiefly thought of as the 
beginning of a nation. To the man of that day the most 
impressive thought often was, that his colony had now 
become a state, independent and sovereign. It is signifi- 
cant of the quick access of state pride that the years be- 
tween the Revolution and the War of 1812 saw the issue, 
in rapid succession, of excellent histories of South Caro- 
lina, North Carolina, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, 
Massachusetts, and New Hampshire, while works that did 



48 THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 

riOt see the light were prepared in other states, for instance, 
in Georgia by Edward Langworthy. 

It was in part an effect of the same spirit that the same 
period saw the founding in 1791 of the Massachusetts 
Historical Society, the oldest of such organizations among 
us, in 1804 of the New York Historical Society, and in 1812 
of the American Antiquarian Society of Worcester, Mas- 
sachusetts. Of the first of these the chief founder was the 
Rev. Dr. Jeremy Belknap, the historian of New Hampshire. 
The ideas which presided over its inception may be learned 
from a sentence of its original constitution. "The preser- 
vation of books, pamphlets, manuscripts and records con- 
taining historical facts, biographical anecdotes, temporary 
projects, and beneficial speculations conduces to mark the 
genius, delineate the manners, and trace the progress of 
society in the United States, and must always have a 
useful tendency to rescue the true history of this country 
from the ravages of time and the effects of ignorance and 
neglect." The programme sounds old-fashioned now, and 
a bit miscellaneous if not vague, but no one can say 
that this oldest and perhaps most prosperous, certainly 
most productive, of our historical societies, with its forty- 
iive volumes of "Proceedings" and sixty-eight volumes of 
^'Collections," its excellent library and unrivalled col- 
lection of manuscripts, has not lived up to the purposes 
and vastly exceeded the hopes of those who founded it. 

In the period of active growth and national pride 
which ensued upon the Second War with Great Britain 
five more historical societies came into existence — the 
Essex Historical Society of Salem, now the Essex Institute, 
in 1821; the Rhode Island Historical Society, the Maine 
Historical Society, and the Historical Society of Penn- 
sylvania in 1822, and that of New Hampshire in 1823. Four 
more followed in the thirties, the Ohio Historical and 
Philosophical Society and the Virginia Historical Society 
in 1831, that of North Carolina in 1832, and that of Louisi- 
ana in 1836. Then, on the fourth of June, 1839, came the 



THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 49 

event which we have met to celebrate, the auspicious and 
memorable foundation of the Georgia Historical Society. 

At that time there were, as will have been seen, only 
a dozen historical societies in the country. Some of these 
were barely alive. The whole amount of their publications 
did not equal fifty volumes. It is doubtful if there were 
three professors of history in all the colleges of the United 
States. Now, the number of books, pamphlets, and maga- 
zine articles annually published on American history alone 
exceeds three thousand. There are, as has been said, nearly 
five hundred historical societies in the country, ranging 
in scope from the merest township organization to the 
American Historical Association, with its nearly three 
thousand members, which aims to be the clearing-house 
of all. These five hundred societies have certainly not 
fewer than thirty thousand members. They have buildings 
the combined value of which must be more than four mil- 
lion dollars, while many others, supported by the state and 
affiliated in some form to its government, have splendid 
quarters in state capitols. Their libraries contain at least 
three million printed books, and their stores of manuscript 
material are enormous. No one who looks at their present 
strength and prosperity will deny that their history, how- 
ever slightly sketched, is an important subject. 

In this great development the Georgia Historical 
Society has played a worthy and important part. In the 
seventy-five years of its existence it has kept brightly alive 
the love of history in its constituency, it has collected an 
invaluable library, it has issued volumes of Collections whose 
superior worth has been recognized by scholars in every 
part of the country. Its first volume, published in 1840 
by Dr. William B. Stevens, took rank at once with the best 
of its class. It chose from the beginning the right path, 
in composing its volumes mainly of those original and 
contemporary materials whose value is permanent and 
secure. Its editions of the letters of Oglethorpe and 
Montiano and Wright, of James Habersham and Joseph 



50 THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 

Clay, are alone sufficient to confer distinction upon such 
a society. But while these have made its name known else- 
where, surely its most notable services have been per- 
formed here in Georgia, for no one can measure the strength 
and encouragement which this prosperous city of Savan- 
nah and this great state of Georgia have drawn from the 
labors of those who have taught them to be proud of a 
history full of glowing deeds, of manly characters, and of 
that courage and fortitude and energy that steadily lead 
to greatness. 

Do not let us take, in the presence of any one, a hum- 
ble or apologetic tone concerning the studies of our choice. 
In the history of the past we should find such a source of 
pride and inspiration as can be found nowhere else. I 
could wish that the student of American history should 
turn often to the eleventh chapter of the Epistle to the 
Hebrews, that splendid bead-roll of the great ones of Israel, 
that triumphant summary of the dealings of God with his 
chosen people. He is a poor American if he sees in it no 
parallel to his own thinking. "By faith," I would have him 
say, "the elders obtained a good report." By faith our 
fathers, when they were called to go out into a place which 
they should afterward receive for an inheritance, obeyed ; 
and went out, not knowing whither they went. By faith they 
sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, 
dwelling in tabernacles, and looking for a city which hath 
foundations, whose builder and maker is God. Therefore 
sprang there from them so many as the stars of the sky 
in multitude, and as the sand which is by the seashore in- 
numerable. These all died in faith, not having received 
the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were per- 
suaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that 
they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. By faith 
Washington and Hamilton and Jefferson and Marshall 
blessed their posterity concerning things to come. By 
faith their successors out of weakness were made strong, 
waxed valiant in fight, wrought righteousness, obtained 



THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 51 

promises. "These all, having obtained a good report 
through faith, received not the recompense, God having 
provided some better thing for us, that they without us 
should not be made perfect." 

Men and women of Georgia, the history of the Hebrew 
nation is sacred history only because the Hebrews deemed 
it so. Surely, to the right-thinking and true-hearted Ameri- 
can or Georgian the history of this great nation is sacred. 
For seventy-five years you have cherished it, in times of 
prosperity and in times of calamity, in the spirit of hope- 
fulness in which Tefft and Stevens and Arnold founded 
your society and in the spirit of manly courage with which 
Bishop Elliott, in the darkest days of reconstruction, 
called upon you to rally to the preservation of culture and 
remembrance. May the Georgia Historical Society go for- 
ward, with increasing vigor and increasing resources, and 
pursue for many decades more its noble work of enlighten- 
ment and inspiration — enlightenment as to a memorable 
past, inspiration toward a still more glorious future. 






Mr. President, and Members of the Georgia Historical 
Society, Ladies and Gentlemen: 

In the year 1720 there was printed in England an ac- 
count of the "Islands of St. Symon, Sapella, St. Catarina 
and Ogeche" described as "The Golden Islands" of Caro- 
lina, being a part of the "Margravate of Azilia" granted in 
1717 by "The Lords Proprietors" of Carolina to Sir Robert 
Mouritgomery, and including all the territory between the 
Savannah and the Altamaha. In this account is printed a 
letter, which I imagine to be the very first recorded instance 
of a Carolinian being called upon to testify as to the excel- 
lence of Georgia. The writer was Colonel John Barnwell, 
then acting as one of the agents of Carolina in transfering 
that Colony to the Crown after the overthrow of the gov- 
ernment of the Lords Proprietors by the Colonists in the 
Revolution of 1719. 

So far as the climate and lands are concerned, he cer- 
tainly did justice to his theme. Here are some of his 
words : 

"We may be furnished from Azilia with many commo- 
dities that are now brought from the Coasts of the Mediter- 
ranean, and other Countries in, or near the same Latitude, 
for by Trials, which have been made there by myself and my 
neighbours, Azilia produces Rice, Silk Indigo, Cochinele, 
Masts for Ships, Cedar, Myrtle, Wax, Walnut-Tree, dying- 
Woods, and great Timber, Pitch, Tar, Turpentine, Rozen, 
Hemp, Flax, Pot-Ashes, and Cotton and had we Olive- 
Trees and Almonds, as we have Oranges, Pomgranates, 
Peaches, Figs, Apples and Pears, they would, undoubtedly, 
do as well. And it is very reasonable to believe many more 



THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 53 

Fruits and Drugs, growing in Persia, in India, about 
Lahore, in China, and in Japan. Places lying in the same 
Climate would thrive there, to the great advantage of the 
British Nation, were proper methods taken to procure the 
same." 

The people of Georgia he did not praise, for the Colony 
was of course, not founded by General Oglethorpe until 12 
years afterwards. I have doubts however, whether after 
the lapse of nearly 200 years, his grandson's grandson can 
supply the omission, and quite keep the pace set by his 
Irish ancestor. But time has certainly knitted closely the 
association of the writer of the letter and his family with 
Georgia. It was he who built the fort on the Altamaha in 
1721, which was burnt in 1725, after his death. It was 
Nathaniel Barnwell, the son of John, who was Aide to 
Oglethorpe in his unsuccessful attack upon St. Augustine 
in 1740. Again it was his grandson, John Barnwell, the 
son of Nathaniel, who in 1775, aided the Schooner sent by 
the "Congress of Georgia" in capturing a cargo of powder, 
a part of which was sent to Boston for the use of the 
American Army engaged in its siege, and it was the pres- 
ence of the force partly under his command which strength- 
ended the hands of the patriots of Georgia in their resist- 
ance at that time to the Royal Governor and his adherents. 
It was the great great grandson of the writer of the letter 
who was Stephen Elliott, the great Bishop of Georgia, 
whose mother was one of your own Habershams. So far 
as my own association with your State are concerned, as a 
Beaufort boy I lived in a community perhaps more closely 
allied by blood with Savannah than with Charleston, 
and Elliott, Habersham, Mackay, McQueen, Smith and 
Williamson were familiar names to me. Indeed the tomb- 
stones of my great great grandfather on the maternal side, 
William Bower Williamson, and of his mother, Mrs. Joseph 
Bryan, may still be seen in your Colonial Cemetery in the 
midst of your beautiful City. My room mate at College 



54 THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 

was a Georgian, Professor Walter LeConte Stevens, now 
a distinguished professor of Washington and Lee Univer- 
sity, and two of my most valued instructors were the 
brothers John and Joseph LeConte of Liberty County, 
Georgia. They were two of the ablest men I have ever 
known, quite capable of making science loved among igno- 
rant savages. They shed luster alike upon Georgia, Caro- 
lina and California. Since manhood so many of my uncles, 
brothers, nephews, nieces and other relations have crossed 
the Savannah that it will soon be difficult to say to which 
side of the River the family really belongs. I remember 
well, as a boy, the visit of "The Guards" to Beaufort, their 
brilliant uniforms and soldierly bearing. They were wel- 
comed by the Beaufort Artillery, one half of whose mem- 
bers, the whole of the first Platoon, were six feet, or over 
in height. 

It was an attractive society, that of the "Old South." 
They almost deified personal courage, which after all is the 
very foundation stone of a character where truth and man- 
liness combine, and they had leisure enough and room 
enough to permit them to be original. I recall a story told 
me many years ago of one of your most respected mer- 
chants, who survived to my day. Himself one of the most 
amiable of men, his father's temper was somewhat hot. 
Angered one day by a sudden dispute, the old gentleman 
said to the offender : "Were I a younger man Sir, I would 
kick you out of my office." His son, thoug<h not himself 
perceiving that any deadly insult to his father was intended, 
nevertheless, at the word promptly carried out his father's 
threat. Then came the reaction. It was almost too much 
for the older man. His own temper mig^ht cost his son 
his life. That day and until late in the night he repeat- 
edly hastened to his son's room. "Have you received a 
message?" "Any message yet?" But when the next day 
came, and there was still no message, there was again a 
revulsion. "Miserable coward"! he exclaimed. "I don't 



THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 55 

believe he intends to challenge you at all." But time does 
not permit me to dwell upon those days. One of the most 
faithful pictures ever drawn of them was in an address 
delivered in Charleston some years ago by one of the finest 
representatives of those times, that ornament to the legal 
profession and splendid gentleman, Major Joseph B. Cum- 
ming of Augusta. 

All of your members are doubtless familiar with the 
close connection between the States of Soufh Carolina and 
Georgia during the Revolutionary War. I do not intend 
however, to allude to the suggestion of Chief Justice 
William Henry Drayton of South Carolina, then made, that 
your State should be absorbed in his own. It is not of 
record that he ever dared to put his foot in Georgia after 
making it. Your Society and our Society have each lately 
published details from contemporary sources of the joint 
expedition by Georgia and South Carolina troops against 
Florida in 1778, soon followed by the capture of Savannah 
by the British. Then followed Lincoln's attack upon 
Augusta and the daring dash upon Chaileston of General 
Prevost, then in command of the British forces here, very 
nearly resulting in the capture of that city. Later came 
the unsuccessful attack by D'Estaing and Lincoln upon 
Savannah, when Frenchmen and Americans poured out 
their life's blood upon the ramparts of your city. Your 
monuments to Pulaski and Jasper commemorate their 
heroic deeds. 

There has been publis'hed in London within the last 
twelve-month the first volume of the "Annals of the King's 
Royal Rifle Corps" by Captain Lewis Butler formerly a 
member of the Regiment. This volume gives a history of 
the regiment of "Royal Americans," afterwards the 60th. 
English regiment, a part of which formed the garrison of 
Savannah during that attack. Major General Augustin 
Prevost, who had commanded the regiment, a Swiss soldier 
of great enterprise and skill, was in command of the British 
forces at the time. After the defeat of the British attack 



56 THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 

on Fort Moultrie, then called Fort Sullivan, on the 28th. 
of June, 1776, "a pair of Colours" was presented to the 
Second Regiment of South Carolina troops, which had 
distinguished itself in the battle, one of them being red, and 
the other blue. In delivering them Mrs. Barnard Elliott, 
wife of the Major of the Regiment used these words : 

"Gentlemen, soldiers, your gallant behaviour in defense 
of your country entitles you to the highest honours. Accept 
these two standards as a reward justly due to your regi- 
ment; and I make not the least doubt that you will stand 
by them as long as they wave in the air of liberty." 

Well did they fulfill her confident prediction. The 
Second Regiment, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel 
Francis Marion, the famed "Swamp Fox" of legend and 
verse, was prominent in the assault upon Savannah. The 
red color was planted on the rampart of the Spring Hill 
redoubt by Sergeant Macdonald, who had snatched it from 
Lieutenant Gray as he fell backward mortally wounded, 
and it was safely carried off when the assailants retired. 
The blue color was carried forward as bravely. Lieutenant 
Bus'h having been previously wounded handed it to Ser- 
geant Jasper, who himself had been already wounded. On 
receiving a second and fatal wound, he restored it to Lieu- 
tenant Bush, who fell mortally wounded with the color 
under his body. In the words of the author of the volume, 
"No one could have done more." Jasper subsequently died 
with the name of Mrs. Elliott on his lips. The blue color 
was given to General Prevost, and to-day is in the posses- 
sion of his great grandson in England. A picture of it is 
printed in the volume. "Hallowed by the blood of Bush 
and Jasper," says the author, it "deserves to be deposited 
under a consecrated roof." Some day in the future, Mr. 
President, your Society and ours may unite in the request 
for its return to us. If the request be granted, your City 
and State would have strong claims to it, for however 
doubtful it still is as to the nationality to which Jasper 
belonged, and as to the place of his birth, there is no doubt 
that he was recruited in Georgia. 



THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 57 

What a story of want of organization, want of train- 
ing, inefficiency, and incompetence, although redeemed at 
times by feats of individual heroism, do the campaigns in the 
two States tell as long as Generals Howe, Lincoln and 
Gates were in command ! Not until the advent to the com- 
mand in the South of a real soldier General Greene, was 
order brought out of chaos, and a savage and internecine 
conflict, almost amounting to Guerilla Warfare, changed 
into a campaign conducted by trained and civilized armies. 

The close of the Revolutionary War left your State the 
feeblest in the Union, with but a thin line of settlements 
along its coast, and about the same along the Savannah 
River. The larger and most valuable part of the territory 
of the State was still in the possession of the Indians. 
Surely however, did the men of Georgia push forward on 
the road to prosperity, and wihen once the whole lands of 
the State were yours, you soon received and richly de- 
served the title of "Empire State" of the South. Politi- 
cally you produced in my opinion, no statesmen equal 
intellectually to our Calhoun, but after his death, there was 
no Carolinian who could compare in rugged force and elo- 
quence with Toombs, or in subtle analysis with Stephens. 
The territory of your State is very nearly twice as great 
as our own, and its large white population was far more 
Democratic than that of South Carolina. The overshadow- 
ing influence of Calhoun gave definiteness to our counsels, 
and made our political course more easily understood. It 
is far from easy for an outsider to trace the varying cur- 
rents of yours. After the rush to the Indian lands in Geor- 
gia there was a trace of Western energy in your population, 
not so pronounced before that time. Your State did not 
contain so many men of lage fortunes, but then it was with- 
out the large majority of Africans, which constituted so 
much of the wealth of Carolina. 

Into the Confederate War, Georgia followed South 
Carolina with much less unanimity than was the case with 
us, but when War was once declared, Georgia did her duty 



58 THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 

nobly, and with the best. East and West, and South and 
North, alike under your Longstreet and Gordon, and our 
Hampton and Kershaw, and others, Georgians and Caroli- 
nians, shoulder to shoulder, laid down their lives in behalf 
of Southern rights. In the words I have quoted already : 
"No one could have done more". 

Your soldiers, of course, helped to defend our extended 
coast line, and I well recall Colquitt's gallant regiment, 
the 46th Georgia, when it was stationed in Charleston dur- 
ing 1864. In December of the same year the Geor- 
gia Reserves, composed of old men and boys, aided in 
the repulse of the enemy at Honey Hill. They killed and 
wounded in a few hours more of the enemy than they 
numbered themselves. I have reason to remember the 
presence of Georgia troops at that time, for it was Dr. 
Norton, Assistant Surgeon of the 47th Georgia, who after 
a skirmish, occurring a few days later, kindly agreed with 
Assistant Surgeon Kellers of South Carolina not to cut off 
my leg, and thus put me on crutches, or a false leg for the 
rest of my life. Some years afterwards I met him in 
Efifingham County, at the marriage of one of my dearest 
relations to one of your beautiful Georgia girls, (It is a 
habit which we Carolinians always have had, and I trust 
always will have), and I could scarcely blame him, when 
having discovered that I was still alive, and walking, and 
even dancing, he pointed me out to his friends, and audibly 
whispered: "That's my leg". 

When the War was over, and the States of the South 
began anew to build up from the wreck and ruin of their 
hopes and homes, the fabric of a new civilization, your 
large white population put you far in advance of us. Your 
Government practically was always in the hands of the 
historic race. With us it was just the reverse, for under 
the Reconstruction Acts, the negroes were in a large ma- 
jority, and we drank to the dregs all that corrupt, ignorant 
and cowardly mis-government could present to our lips. 
Loyal service was done by your representatives in Con- 



THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 59 

gress, and by your citizens and State Government, in our 
aid during- this period. It could not of course last, when 
your State and North Carolina were free. In 1876, follow- 
ing the lead of Mississippi, who had secured possession of 
her government the year before, and guided by our own 
Hampton, we threw off the yoke. Then it was that your 
"gallant Gordon" came to our aid, and lent us hope and 
encouragement in the darkest hour of the conflict. 

Since then there has been a friendly rivalry in the 
pursuits of peaceful life, and both States have reason to be 
proud of their record. In the days of slavery, our State 
had showed its capacity in more than one branch of agri- 
culture. One single pound of the cotton grown upon our 
Sea Islands could be spun into from 197 to 238 miles of 
yarn, and the system of rice cultivation peculiar to our 
State was not equalled anywhere in the world. Since then 
by means of thousands, in fact nearly a million tons of fer- 
tilizers yearly, largely manufactured within her borders, she 
has improved the culture of cotton and corn until, accord- 
ing to the census of 1910 one county, Marlboro, produced 
74,000 bales of cotton upon 84,000 acres of land, and the 
corn crop of the State, which was about 17,000,000 bushels 
in 1900, has nearly reached the figures of 40,000,000 bushels 
in the past year. In cotton manufacturing our State has 
out stripped both of her neighbors, Georgia and North 
Carolina, in looms and spindles, by the thousands, being 
second only to Massachusetts in the United States. As in 
your State all of her mills are worked by white labor. We 
can scarcely ever expect to equal your great city of 
Atlanta, increasing in enterprise and energy each year as she 
increases in wealth and population. Nor can we compete 
with you in mineral resources, for we do not possess them. 
In popular education we are behind you, but taking into 
account the ravages of war and of reconstruction, we have 
nothing to be ashamed of, and in higher education for men 
and women, nearly all of it free, we hold our own. Even 
in the race of Democracv we are not behind hand. With 



60 THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 

our "Primary System," we now possess a Democratic gov- 
ernment pure and simple, so far as the whites are con- 
cerned. So says Mr. Reed in his interesting book, "The 
Brothers War", and he is, I think, undoubtedly right. The 
Primary System, I think we adopted from you. I certainly 
found it in use in Baldwin County for County nominations 
in 1874, fully five years before it was adopted anywhere in 
South Carolina. "The Primary" avoids the "log rolling," 
manipulation and especially "the deadlocks" of the Conven- 
tion system, but where a hotly contested election is to follow 
the nomination by Primary election, it is not yet proved, in 
my opinion, that it is a workable plan. The Southern States 
are nearly all, at present States where there is but one 
party in national politics. In State politics there is prac- 
tically no government by party. It is a nice question 
whether good government can maintain itself without a 
party system. If there are no vital principles dividing the 
electorate, are not politics reduced to a mere vote getting 
level?. And is not he who "peppers the highest surest to 
please"? This Democracy too is the almost unrestrained 
master of a race which we cannot assimilate, and which 
seems to possess little interest in, or capacity for self gov- 
ernment. No wonder that we have made mistakes. They 
will continue to be made, but I am no pessimist. Not for- 
ever will States whose people are among the foremost in 
agriculture and manufacture, whose men and whose women 
are throbing with the desire for education and improvement 
submit to the rule of any but the foremost and best. Bad 
and corrupt public men will disappear, as will disappear 
the habit of carrying arms, bloody personal encounters, 
and all manner of mob violence. Civilization will not 
tolerate them. Changes 'happen quickly in America. Who 
would have predicted 30 years ago that our State would 
be more Democratic than yours. And here is the Demo- 
cratic Party of the United States, which for 16 years was 
defeated and despised and laughed at, now under a Presi- 
dent, Southern by birth, actually adopting constructive 



THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 61 

legislation with something like unanimity. The time may- 
yet come, I may not see it — when your great State and ours 
may each be offering candidates for high national honors 
as they did in the old days when Calhoun and Crawford 
were both prominent candidates for the Presidency. Let 
history repeat itself. Let us look for the day. 



g»ftirnJa-fifti) Annual iSrpnrt 
of tljp PrrBt&rnt 



Savannah, Ga., February 12, 1914. 
In accordance with the by-laws, I submit the Seventy- 
fifth Annual Report of the President, submitting first the 
actings and doings of the past year with resulting changes, 
and next, on this special occasion, a few observations on 
the progress of the Society since the celebration of its semi- 
centennial in 1889. 

Curators 

There have been no changes in the Board of Curators 
since the last annual report. The terms of Messrs. W. W. 
Gordon, W. W. Mackall, H. P. Smart, and W. W. 
Williamson expire with this meeting, and it is in order to 
elect four curators for the three-year term ending Febru- 
ary 12, 1917. 

Membership 

During the past quarter century there has been great 
variation in the active membership, the minimum number 
being thirty-six in 1909 and the maximum being over six 
hundred. The earlier records of membership were not so 
kept and reported as to be available for accurate figures. 
This variation has been due to the material changes in the 
constitution and organization of the Society which have 
occurred during this period. While it has always continued 
its functions as a historical society, it also gave to its mem- 
bers until 1903 the benefits of a circulating library, main- 
taining, as it did, the only public or semi-public library in 
the city. The surrender of its building and of its books to 
the city in 1903 for the establishment of the Savannah 
Public Library and the large increase then made in its 



THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 63 

annual dues (from five dollars to twenty-five dollars) 
resulted in an immediate drastic reduction of its member- 
ship, limited by the constitution to one hundred (a limit 
never reached), and steadily diminishing in number from 
year to year until the minimum of thirty-six active members 
was reached in 1909. This forced the reluctant recognition 
that, without the advantages of the circulating library, and 
with no satisfactory response to the question asked by 
some "what is there in it for me," it was impracticable to 
maintain a historical society except by reduction of dues. 
When dues were reduced to $10.00 in 1909, there was a 
moderate gain, but only two years ago we had but eighty- 
eight active members and one year ago but ninety-six. 
Through the zeal and efficiency of a Committee on Mem- 
bership appointed last year, and through the activity and 
interest of the individual members, I am happy to report a 
gratifying increase, and that we now have more than one 
hundred and fifty active members. The honorary members 
are six and the corresponding members ten. Of the active 
members twenty-eight are women. The opening of mem- 
bership to women has had a most stimulating effect. It is 
an era in our history, and I am sure that it will prove an 
important factor in our future prosperity and usefulness. 

Finances 

Your cash balance of a year ago was $2,227.77 with no 
liabilities. This was exclusive of the Permanent Fund, 
which consists of a $1,500 loan to the Telfair Academy and 
of a 5% Certificate of Deposit of the Chatham Real Estate 
and Improvement Company for $200, with the accumulated 
interest thereon. The Permanent Fund has not been 
changed during the year. Your expenses have been un- 
usually heavy. This is due almost entirely to the issue 
during the year of two very expensive publications referred 
to in another part of this report. The Expedition of Don 
Montiano involved a total cost of $1,138.80, due largely to 
the expense of translating the old Spanish manuscripts and 



64 THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 

the inclusion of many interesting and valuable illustrations. 
Volume VIII, Letters of Joseph Clay, involved a total cost 
of $1,138.42, also due in part to the inclusion of interesting 
insets and illustrations, and in part to the excellent quality 
of the paper and print. In form, and usefulness the Volume 
is a great improvement on the previous publications of the 
Society. For this, as well as for the maps, illustrations and 
insets in both volumes, we are indebted to the generous 
kindness of Mr. Wymberley Jones DeRenne, who is even 
more distinguished for his patriotism and public spirit in 
•collecting the materials of Georgia history than he is as 
chairman of our Committee on Printing and Publishing. 

The cash balance on February 1, 1914, was $1,247.08. 
The other resources of the Society are (1) the Permanent 
Fund of $1,700, (2) Hodgson Hall on Gaston and Whitaker 
Streets held under the restrictions specified in the deed, 
(3) the vacant half lot adjoining Llodgson Hall on the 
south, (4) the books entrusted to the Savannah Public 
Library in 1903 and your interest in those since purchased, 
as hereinafter explained, (5) a noteworthy collection of 
historical books, pamphlets, manuscripts and other articles, 
many of which are listed in the accompanying report of the 
Librarian. But 3^our best assets are the record of the 
achievements of your predecessors and the spirit which 
actuates you who are now the Society, and impels you to 
press forward in the good work. Your only liability is the 
duty you owe to your state and her history. 

There will be presented at this annual meeting an 
interesting report from the Librarian calling attention to 
some of the valuable objects of great historical interest pos- 
sessed by the Society. From this it will appear that we are 
rich in files of old newspapers and are already possessed 
of many rare and valuable books and manuscripts, not to 
speak of a large number of historical relics of great interest, 
including the gold fac-simile of the great seal of the State 
of Georgia presented by the State to Governor Jenkins for 
his patriotic conduct in the trying days of reconstruction, 



THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 65 

and a Revolutionary drum which was in actual service in 
the battles of Eutaw, Saratoga and Cowpens. 

Publications 

At the last annual meeting the immediate publication 
of the Spanish Account of Don Montiano's attack on Fred- 
erika in 1742 was pending. It has since been issued as Part 
3 of Volume VII of our Collections, and forms a most use- 
ful and interesting addition to the accessible history of the 
State. During the year there has also been issued Volume 
VIII, another interesting and valuable publication, being 
the Letters of Joseph Clay before, during and after the 
Revolution. Further details are given in the report of the 
Committee on Publication. At no period of its existence 
has the Society within one year made such valuable contri- 
bution to the history of our State. 

Telfair Academy Finances 

The Telfair Academy began the year with a balance ot 
$2,046.46, but with the old indebtedness of $1,500 to the 
Historical Society still unpaid. I regret to advise that it 
has been unable to pay it during the past year. There was 
an extraordinary disbursement of $975 for painting the 
outside of the building. The only extraordinary receipt 
was $2,800 from the sale of the Button Gwinnett autograph. 
The cash balance on February 1, 1914, was $6,371.92. To 
the appropriation of $2,800 from the Button Gwinnett fund 
the curators added an additional $5,000, all to be expended 
in the purchase of works of art during the current year. No 
works of art have been acquired since the last annual report. 
This is due partly to want of funds, and partly to the seri- 
ous illness and protracted indisposition of Mr. Gari 
Melchers, our advisor in all matters of art. 

It was not as a historical society that we sold the 
Button Gwinnett autograph, but as trustee of an Academy 
of Arts. As a fiduciary we would be recreant to our trust 
if we should at any time prefer the interest of the trustee 



66 THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 

to the interest of the beneficiary. The Historical Society 
would have been glad to keep among its own archives so 
rare and highly prized a document, but its retention by the 
Academy of Arts was entirely foreign to its functions and 
its purposes. If the Historical Society, the Trustee, desired 
it for its own uses, it could only have secured it by paying 
to its owner, the beneficiary of the trust, full value, waiving 
for the moment the rule which prohibits a trustee from per- 
sonally acquiring the trust property. Of course the Society 
could not afford the purchase, and it unhesitatingly did its 
full duty to the trust in selling that which, in its own 
interest, it would have been glad to retain. All works of 
art purchased from the proceeds of the sale are to carry a 
notation that they were "purchased from the Button Gwin- 
nett autograph fund." 

Telfair Academy — Free Days 

In my last annual report I called your attention to the 
resumption of the free days at the Telfair Academy. I am 
happy to report that the result for the year just closed is 
highly gratifying. In 1912, when there were no free days, 
we had only 735 visitors — all pay visitors of course. In 
1913, when the two free days in each week were resumed,, 
we had pay visitors 522, free visitors 3,151, total 3,673. 
For every visitor to the Academy in 1912 there were more 
than five visitors in 1913. As the object of the Academy is 
the public benefit, and at best the receipts from pay visitors 
were always small, (the falling off of these receipts in the 
year just closed amounted to but little over $50), the re- 
sumption of the free days was clearly a wise move, and in 
the face of these figures they should never be abandoned. 
Telfair Academy — Organization 

In my last annual report I recommended a change in 
the organization of the Telfair Academy and the adminis- 
tration of its afifairs, and the matter was referred by the 
Society to the curators for consideration and report. I am 
instructed by the curators to report to you that they have 



THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 67 

given the subject due consideration, and are of the opinion 
that the chang-e is not advisable, and that it is to the best 
interest of the Historical Society and of the Telfair 
Academy that the present methods continue. Surely I can 
make no mistake in accepting the united opinion of so 
excellent a body as being wiser than my own ; and it will 
be my privilege and my pleasure so long as I shall remain 
on the Board of Curators to co-operate with you, not only 
to continue the exercise of the efficient zeal which you have 
heretofore applied to the execution of this trust, but to 
studiously and constantly endeavor to bring more zeal and 
more efficiency to our task, and to demonstrate that, in 
selecting this ancient and honorable institution, Aliss Tel- 
fair made no mistake in believing that it was best qualified 
to work for the good of the community whose interest she 
had at heart and for whom she so generously provided. 

List of Officers 

In 1894 Mr. Wm. Harden, who was elected Librarian 
of this Society August 2, 1869, and has since continuously, 
and so ably and faithfully, filled that office, compiled a list 
of the officers of the Society from its inauguration to 1894, 
which appears as an appendix to the printed hand-book of 
that year. This compilation has been brought up to date 
and is attached as an appendix to this report. 

A Retrospect 

I hold in my hand a bound volume which, if not one 
of the most valuable, is at least one of the most interesting 
and cherished of our possessions. It contains the original 
autograph manuscripts connected with the organization of 
the Society, being the original circular of May 22, 1839, 
sent out to fifty-one individuals by Mr. Israel K. Tefft, 
the Society's first Corresponding Secretary, Dr. William 
Bacon Stevens, afterwards Episcopal Bishop of Penn- 
sylvania, author of Stevens' History of Georgia and first 
Recording Secretary of the Society, and Dr. Richard D. 



68 THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 

Arnold one of its first curators. This is followed by Dr. 
Stevens' account of the organization of the Society and a 
list of its first members, and then by the original replies 
to the circular. It is significant that forty-nine of the fifty- 
one replied and the sincerity of these replies is proven by 
the large attendance at the meeting for organization on 
May 24, 1839. This valuable collection was presented to 
the Society on its 50th anniversary by Mrs. Sarah S. 
Walden, daughter-in-law of Mr. Tefft who was really the 
prime mover in the organization. 

The Georgia Historical Society was incorporated by 
act of the General Assembly of Georgia approved December 
19, 1839, and amended October 25, 1870. Its first Annua4 
Meeting was held on Georgia Day, February 12, 1840. 
Tihe list of its charter members contains many names of the 
men of that day whose memory we delight to honor. It is 
headed by John McPherson Berrien, our first President, 
probably the most distinguished lawyer who ever practiced 
at the bar of Georgia, United States Senator, Attorney 
General in Andrew Jackson's Cabinet ; and next is James M. 
Wayne, our first Vice President, Judge of the Superior 
Court, Member of Congress, and for thirty-two years a 
Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. 

We now celebrate the passage of the third quarter 
century of its existence. When the first of these three 
periods expired the country w^as engaged in the throes of 
the Civil War, and while most of the members were 
then so busily engaged in the making of history that they 
could devote to its preservation neither time nor thought, 
it is worthy of note that those whose duties or disabilities 
kept them from going to the front continued to maintain 
the organization and to hold regular meetings through those 
four trying years; but there was no celebration of the 
twenty-fifth anniversary in 1864. 

Not even did the trying days of reconstruction sup- 
press the zeal of the then members. In 1873 just at the 
end of this period which had so tried men's souls and 



THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 69 

thrown the State into almost hopeless poverty, the publi- 
cation of the "Collections of the Georgia Historical Society" 
was resumed after a lapse of twenty-five years by the issue 
of Volume III in 1873. "A Sketch of the Creek Country 
in 1798 and 1799, by Bejamin Hawkins", had been pub- 
lished in 1848 as Volume III Part 1, and I am unable at 
this date to explain why this designation was ignored in 
the publication of the other Volume III in 1873, containing 
Letters of General James Oglethorpe to the Trustees of 
the Colony, 1735-1744, Letters of Governor Sir James 
Wright to his chiefs in England, and two addresses deliv- 
ered before the Society. 

In 1889, when your Society had reached the age of 50 
years, the occasion was appropriately celebrated, and a 
full account of this celebration has been transmitted to all 
members as an appendix to the programme of the present 
occasion. 

It would be inappropriate to this report to now 
recount the history of the Society for the seventy-five 
years which have elapsed. It has been given from time to 
time in former reports and in the Collections of the Society 
heretofore issued. Suffice is to say here that for the full 
seventy-five years it has been a living active body, with no 
period of suspended animation, with no need of reorganiza- 
tion or revival. We still have the recorded minutes of 
all its meetings and transactions from the beginning. 
Clearly it is the oldest Historical Society in the South, and 
one of the oldest in the Union. 

What are the notable events of our three periods? The 
first quarter century covered the foundation and organiza- 
tion of the Society, the second the foundation and organiza- 
tion of the Telfair Academy of Arts and Sciences. What of 
the third? Have we proved worthy successors of our 
predecessors? While we have had our days of prosperity 
and our days of struggle for existence, yet there are three 
noteworthy achievements which we can recall with pride 
and satisfaction. The first is that we have more than sus- 



70 THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 

tained the pace set by our predecessors in the publica- 
tion of our "Collections" ; the second is our material and 
potent part in giving to Savannah the Public Library 
which she has so long needed ; and the third is the con- 
tinued improvement of the Telfair Academy (which twenty- 
five years ago was but in its infancy) and its establish- 
ment as a Museum of Arts whose excellence is universally 
recognized. 

Publications 

The Librarian has compiled a bibliography of the 
Society's publications, containing not only the series desig- 
nated as Collections of the Georgia Historical Society, but 
also other books, addresses, etc., published by it or under 
its auspices. During its first quarter century, from 1839 
to 1864, there were published three volumes of its Col- 
lections ; during the second quarter century, 1864 to 1889, 
Volumes HI and IV appeared; during the quarter century 
now closing there have appeared Volume V, Part 1, (1901), 
Volume V, Part 2 (1902), Volume VI (1904), Volume VII, 
Part 1 (1909), Volume VII, Part 2 (1911), Volume VII, 
Part 3 (1913), and Volume VIII (1913). Each of these 
parts is itself a separate and complete publication. In the 
first quarter century the Society issued three publications, 
in the second quarter century but two, and in the third 
quarter century seven. The later period in our history 
shows a greater activity in the preservation and dissemina- 
tion of the history of Georgia than does the entire half cen- 
tury of the earlier period. 

Public Library 

While the Georgia Historical Society has always been 
limited in the extent of its activities by the want of funds, 
and while this want has been accentuated and increased by 
the fact that during about one-third of its existence the 
people of our State were suffering from the losses and the 
arrest of progress due directly and indirectly to our Civil 



THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 71 

War, yet its work will compare favorably, not only with 
the work of similar societies in the South, but with the 
work of many historical societies in the older and more 
prosperous states. Most of its accomplishments have been 
strictly within the line of its duty and the objects pre- 
scribed by its charter; but the last quarter century of its 
life has been distinguished by a foundation outside of the 
field of its activities as a historical society pure and simple, 
but of great benefit to the community in which it is 
domiciled. 

The first meeting for organization of the Georgia His- 
torical Society in 1839 was held in the rooms of the Savan- 
nah Library Society, whose object is suffiiciently indicated 
by its name. The general activities of these two societies 
for many years, the close association between them, and 
the ultimate merger of the two are fully set forth in an 
interesting address by Dr. Richard D. Arnold delivered 
before the Society on July 24, 1871, and printed in Volume 
III of its Collections. The absorption of the Library 
Society accounts for the fact that our own organization, 
founded for purely historical purposes, collected in its 
library not only works bearing on historical subjects, but 
also books suitable for a circulating library. For a num- 
ber of years the gathering and publishing of historical 
material was secondary to its principal work of maintain- 
ing a circulating library, and when it had several hundred 
members the great inducement was ability to obtain for a 
small annual fee the privilege of a library — a privilege not 
open to them through any other organization or through 
any public institution. 

The dual nature of the Society under its former 
organization is well indicated by the fact that Dr. Arnold's 
sketch is addressed to "Gentlemen of the Georgia Histori- 
cal and Savannah Library Societies, now consolidated as 
the Georgia Historical Society". Dr. Arnold, for many 
years one of our most distinguished citizens, a ripe scholar 
of great culture, was himself a founder of our Society and 



72 THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 

was old enougfh to remember the beginnings of the Savan- 
nah Library Society, Which was organized on January 8, 
1809. It is interesting to observe that among the founders 
of this older organization were John McPherson Berrien 
the first President, James M. Wayne the first Vice Presi- 
dent, of the Georgia Historical Society, and Alexander 
Telfair, the brother of Mary Telfair and of Margaret Telfair 
Hodgson, to whose wise and thoughtful generosity we are 
indebted for the Telfair Academy of Arts and Sciences and 
for Hodgson Hall. 

Possessed in 1903 of a miscellaneous library of over 
twenty-five thousand volumes and, through the generosity 
of Mrs. Hodgson, of a library building and hall erected 
by her as a memorial to her husband, the Society, urged 
thereto by some of its public spirited members, conceived 
the plan of promoting the establishment and the mainten- 
ance for a number of years of a public library for Savannah. 
The result was the contract of 1903 with the city, running 
for an indefinite period, but clearly terminable at the will 
of either party, whereby the Society turned over to the 
Savannah Public Library Hodgson Hall and all its books, 
"reserving only such of them as relate especially to the 
strictly historical purposes of the Society", and the City 
agreed to maintain it. The Library is managed by a 
board of ten, of whom five are appointed by the Mayor 
and five by the Society. For the first five years, in addition 
to the grant of the use of building and books, we contributed 
five hundred dollars per annum, but this was discontinued 
in 1908 when the Library was deemed to be on a firm 
foundation. It has now been in successful operation for 
more than ten years. The Society has done its full duty 
to the public, having even given up the right reserved in 
the contract to set aside for its own uses such rooms in 
Hodgson Hall as it might need, and being reduced to the 
necessity of assembling its meetings in the children's 
librarv. 



THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 73 

It is a pleasure to remind you that this valuable 
municipal utility has been built up under the executive 
administration of two of the officers of this Society who 
have been successively Chairman of the Public Library, 
Mr. Baldwin your First Vice President, and Mr. Ashmore 
your Corresponding- Secretary. 

The public press reports that our Mayor has procured 
from Mr. Carnegie a promise of $75,000 for the erection of 
a Public Library building. While the sum is inadequate 
and must be increased, and while there is a decided senti- 
ment among many citizens that the funds for the library 
building should come from other sources, yet from our 
standpoint this information must be received with pleasure 
and satisfaction. We need our building. We 'have shown 
public spirit and generosity to an extent greater than could 
be expected of us. The Public Library is now necessarily 
a permanent institution. No city administration would 
dare abandon it, and we have done a great work in pro- 
moting it. Let a suitable public library building be erected 
with all practicable speed and let the Georgia Historical 
Society resume its own, and return to its dignified home, 
surrounded by its own volumes and encouraged by its 
traditions to proceed with the good work for which it was 
founded, mindful always of its avowed "purpose of collect- 
ing, preserving and diffusing information relating to the 
history of the State in particular and of American history 
generally". 

The contract with the city provides that on its termina- 
tion the city shall deliver to the Society all the books 
turned over by it to the Public Library "as well as those 
bought to add to the same". Among these are works of 
current fiction and others not necessary to the completeness 
of the library of a purely historical body, and I have no 
doubt when the new building is completed, the Society will 
meet the Mayor and Aldermen in a spirit of equity and 
generosity, and will be willing, if the city shall return to 
the Society its building in first-class condition and as well 



74 THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 

suited in its interior arrangements to our purposes as it 
was when surrendered, to make liberal concessions. 

Telfair Academy 

Through the efficient and industrious zeal of Mr. Wm. 
Harden, who, in addition to his duties as Librarian of the 
Society, is Treasurer of the Trust Fund for the maintenance 
of the Telfair Academy, we have in permanent form a 
complete record of the Society's work in the foundation and 
inauguration of the Telfair Academy. Mary Telfair, 
daughter of Edward Telfair who was Governor of Georgia 
immediately after the Revolution, died on June 2, 1875, 
leaving to the Georgia Historical Society as Trustee the 
old family residence on St. James Square (now Telfair 
Place) and one thousand shares of the capital stock of the 
Augusta and Savannah Railroad, for the foundation of the 
"Telfair Academy of Arts and Sciences". The details of 
the legacy are familiar to you. Owing to protracted but 
unsuccessful litigation over her will, it was not until May 
18, 1883, that the legacy was delivered to the Society. It 
does not comport Avith the popular impression of will con- 
tests that the Society then received, not only the residence 
and all the stock which had been devised and bequeathed 
to them, but $47,060.33 of accumulations during the pro- 
tracted litigation. The promptness and efBciency with 
which the Trustee proceeded with its task is shown by the 
opening of the Academy to the public in almost complete 
state on February 12, 1885. Shortly thereafter it was put 
in the condition in which it now is. 

To the wisdom and industry of the curators was added 
their good fortune in being able to procure the services of 
the late Carl L. Brandt, N. A., as the first Director of the 
Academy. To his skill and zeal and good taste the citizens 
of Savannah are indebted for the orderly and appropriate 
establishment of the Academy in its handsome and well 
arranged home, and for its foundation as a gallery of art, 
a collection of fine examples of what art is and has been, 



THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 75 

a school for those who wish to learn. For twenty-two 
years Mr. Brandt gave to this work substantially his whole 
time at a compensation entirely inadequate from the 
material standpoint, but which to him was secondary to his 
earnest hope that the Academy should be a permanent 
monument to his memory. To the realization of this hope 
the Society has testified by placing on the walls of the 
Academy a bronze tablet to his memory appropriately 
inscribed. 

During the life of Director Brandt most of the prob- 
lems of the curators in the control and administration of 
the Academy were easily solved, but when he passed away 
in 1905 in the institution which he so I'oved, they faced 
difficulties now hard to realize and to appreciate. They 
were not connoisseurs in art and their best qualification 
for the task which was theirs was their knowledge of this 
fact. The funds available are not sufficient to justify the 
emplo3anent of another director, one on whose judgment 
the curators could rely as they did upon that of Mr. Brandt, 
and who could afford to devote to it the time which is 
required of a Director. Mr. Brandt was our first and only 
Director. 

But while we were in this quandary fortune favored 
us. A combination of fortunate circumstances brought us 
into close contact with Mr. Gari Melchers, one of the most 
distinguished American painters, greatly honored in this 
country and in Europe. There is no honor open to Ameri- 
cans which the art centers of Europe have not conferred 
upon him. He is represented in all the great galleries of 
the continent ; he is one of the three Americans who has 
received the Grand Prix in Paris, and one of the three 
American members of the Royal Academy in Berlin. His 
medals and prizes and decorations are too numerous to 
mention. We could not secure 'him as Director of the 
Academy, but in January, 1906, we secured, and we have 
been so fortunate as to retain to this date, the services of 
Mr. Melchers as our advisor in all matters of art. 



76 THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 

Another fortunate circumstance was that coincident 
with Mr. Melchers' connection with the Academy we were 
able to pay the last installment of the indebtedness which 
our predecessors had wisely incurred in the erection of the 
existing buildings and the purchase and installation of the 
beautiful collection of casts, paintings and other works of 
art which formed the nucleus of the collection. 

The Telfair Academy is not merely a picture gallery or 
a hall of statues, but it is essentially and distinctly an 
Academy of Art, and this your curators must always bear 
in mind in the selection of its contents. You would not 
select a connoisseur in art to conduct a bank, to operate 
a railroad, or to solve important legal problems. No more 
would you select the bank president, the lawyer, or the 
railroad official to pass upon a question of art, unless you 
knew that he had the experience and the training essential 
to make his judgment valuable. While Mr. Brandt was 
Director nothing was admitted to the Telfair Academy that 
did not meet his approval as a work of art, and since we 
have had the benefit of Mr. Melchers' advice the same rule 
is in force. We could not retain a competent advisor 
on other terms. Under his advice and largely through his 
active co-operation and assistance, we have since 1906 
added forty-two pictures to the collection of the Academy, 
in addition to five others which are loaned. Of these eight 
were presented or bequeathed, and the remainder pur- 
chased out of the small income of the Academy. 

At the beginning of the quarter century just closed 
the foundation for a museum of art had been laid, and well 
laid, and the good work has been kept up with the able 
assistance and skill of Mr. Brandt. I venture the assertion 
that it would have been impossible to do better with the 
available funds. For the work which they have achieved 
this Society and the entire community owe them a debt 
of eternal gratitude. But for this achievement the work 
which has been done in the period to which I now refer 
would have been impossible. We have built upon their 



THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 77 

foundation, and have had the co-operation of the dis- 
tinguished artist who no'W advises us, and I cite as one of 
the noteworthy achievements of the last quarter century 
the great improvement which has been erected upon this 
foundation turned over to us, resulting in the present 
standing of the Telfair Academy as a collection of works 
of art of the highest quality, a museum not only far 
superior to any in the South, but superior to the museums 
of any city whicli can be compared with Savannah in op- 
portunities, resources and wealth. 

Conclusion 

Seven times you have honored me with the presidency 
of your Society. Realizing that I have neither the taste, 
the talent nor the time for the proper performance of the 
duties, my first election was over my protest — a protest 
perhaps not so forceful as it should have been. I have on 
several occasions urged the election of another. I have a 
high appreciation of the dignity and honor attached to the 
office and I have taken great pride in my encumbency ; but 
I have already held it too long, and this is my last report. 
With the assistance of a strong Board of Curators, with 
Mr. Ashmore as the efficient Corresponding Secretary, Mr. 
Harden as a Librarian of proven excellence, Mr. DeRenne, 
whose reputation as a collector of history is second to none, 
as Chairman of the Committee on Printing and Publishing, 
and Mr. Melchers as Advisor of the Telfair Academy, tJhe 
burdens of the President's office have been light. One 
better qualified than I will be able to do much more. The 
office will seek the man and not man the office, and 
you will find one with the culture, the knowledge and the 
taste which should be inseperable from it. My successor 
will find no hard problems of organization or finance. The 
Society is on the upward march. While it needs many 
more members than it now has, I am sure that it will get 
them. It will shortly resume possession of its handsome 
home. I hope that the increased public interest which this 



78 THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 

celebration has elicited will take such practical form that its 
members will be numbered by hundreds, and that the 
Society may increase the good work which it has done, add 
to the number of its published collections, and soon under- 
take the publication of a periodical historical magazine. 
Our sister Society of Virginia has done this for many years, 
and what Virginia does Georgia can do. 

Ladies and gentlemen, I thank you most heartily for 
the honor which you have conferred upon me, and I hold 
myself at your service for anything which will tend to the 
expansion and the prosperity of the Georgia Historical 
Society. 



a? port of fflommittf e on f rtttttng 



Savannah, Ga., Feb. 3, 1914. 

Col. A. R. Lawton, President. 

Georgia Historical Society, 
Savannah, Ga. 
Dear Sir : 

Through its Committee on Printing and Publishing — 
the Georgia Historical Society issued two volumes during 
the year, 1913. 

The first one was — The Spanish Official Account of 
the Attack on the Colony of Georgia in America, and its 
Defeat on St. Simons Island, by Gen. James Oglethorpe — 
The Spanish documents were translated by Col. C. DeWitt 
Wilcox, and the volume is illustrated with a portrait of 
Gen. Oglethorpe, maps and plans of Forts. 

It forms part HI of Volume VII of the Georgia His- 
torical Society Collections. 

Later in the year your Committee issued in one volume 
entitled Volume VIII of The Georgia Historical Col- 
lections: "Letters of Joseph Clay, merchant of Sa- 
vannah 1776-1793, and a List of Ships and Vessels 
entered at the Port of Savannah for May 1765-1766- 
1767. The publishing of the entries of all the months in 
those years would have made too bulky a volume, while 
the entries of the three months of May in each year suffici- 
ently serve to illustrate the commerce of the port. This 
volume is published on fine paper, illustrated with Joseph 
Clay's portrait, maps, and views of contemporaneous date. 



80 THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 

Your committee is now considering the value of MSS. 
in the Society's possession for future publication and it will 
address you on the subject before the meeting. 

Yours truly, 

W. J. DeRENNE 

OTIS ASHMORE 

DR. THOS. J. CHARLTON 

WM. W. GORDON, JR. 



Savannah, Ga., Feb. 19, 1914. 

Col. A. R. Lawton, President, 

Georgia Historical Society, 
Savannah, Ga. 
Dear Sir: 

Your Committee on Printing and Publishing, after 
examining the MSS. in the possession of the Georgia 
Historical Society, has decided that the most important 
to publish are the Hawkins papers which will make a 
volume of proper size, and one which will be greatly 
prized by all Historical Societies. 

Your truly, 



W. J. DeRENNE 

OTIS ASHMORE 

DR. THOS. J. CHARLTON 

WM. W. GORDON, JR. 



IGtbranan's &pnrt 



An agreement between the City of Savannah and the 
Georgia Historical Society, made on the 26tlh of March, 
1903, which resulted in the founding of the Savannah 
Public Library, requires that annual reports shall be made 
both to the Mayor and Aldermen of the City of Savannah 
and to the Georgia Historical Society. In the reports so 
submitted that of your Librarian is always included. The 
statement of the proceedings of the Public Library for 
the year 1913 was promptly rendered on the 1st of January 
last, and as it embraced the facts in relation to the progress 
of the Library of this Society, it is not necessary to repeat 
here what was recorded therein ; but it has been deemed 
proper that a special report be made at this the seventy- 
fifth annual meeting in which the members shall be in- 
formed as to certain articles in our possession of peculiar 
interest and value. 

Without doubt, the most valuable of these, considered 
from the standpoint of Georgia history, is the collection of 
early newspapers. The Georgia Gazette, the property of 
James Johnston, was the eighth newspaper to appear in the 
colonies, and its first number was issued on the 7th of 
April, 1763. It is our misfortune not to have the first two 
volumes of that journal, but it is a satisfaction to know 
that they are to be found in the Library of our sister 
society, the Historical Society of Massachusetts — the only 
two volumes of its files owned by that Society. Those 
volumes are for the years 1763-1770. We have the files, 
practically complete, from 1774 to the time it suspended, in 
1802. Other newspapers were printed in Savannah from 
that time until the Savannah Georgian was started in 1818, 
all of which we have, together with the complete office files 
of the last named from its beginning in 1818 until its 



82 THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 

suspension in 1854. During the time the Georgian was 
printed Savannah had another popular newspaper, the 
Republican ; but, with the exception of a few odd volumes, 
we have no files of it; a complete set, however, is preserved 
in the Library of Congress. While those two journals 
existed others sprang up which were short-lived, most of 
which we have. 

The next item of value to be mentioned is a copy of the 
Georgia Colonial Acts, printed by Johnston wliose press 
was the only one in the Province, and from which press 
the Gazette was issued. This is an excessively rare publi- 
cation, and is one of only four copies known. 

It is singular that of those copies not one is complete, 
each containing some act not to be found in any of the 
others. So valuable are these volumes considered that a 
small edition of a fac-simile set of all the acts has been 
published by the Statute Law Book Company for every 
■copy of which a very large price was paid by the subscribers 
who were willing to pay liberally for the privilege of own- 
ing one of the rare books. The company, in return for the 
loan of the original copies, presented to each owner a copy 
of the acts not in his volume, thus permitting the four to 
have a full and complete volume. 

The Library has a number of manuscripts of great 
value, some of which have been printed and form parts 
of the Society's Collections. Among them may be men- 
tioned the proceedings of the Georgia Council of Safety, 
proceedings of the Provincial Assembly, the letter book and 
order book of General and Governor Samuel Elbert and 
the letters of Joseph Clay. Others, worthy of being printed, 
are the letter book of General James Jackson, and the 
volumes of the journals and letters of Benjamin Hawkins 
who, in 1785, was appointed a Commissioner to treat with 
the Cherokees and other Indians south of them with the 
best results, and afterwards appointed by General Wash- 
ington Superintendent of Indian Affairs, South. His manu- 
scripts throw much light on matters relating to his duties 



THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 83 

under those appointments, and all of them are probably 
of as much interest as the single volume whidh was printed 
in 18-18, and forms the first part of the third volume of the 
Collections of this Society. We have other manuscripts 
which, on a close examination by the Committee on Print- 
ing and Publishing, may be considered of sufficient interest 
and importance to make a volume or more of the Society's 
Collections. Included in them will be found the letter 
books of some of the mercantile houses of Savannah before 
and after the War of the Revolution. 

Of inestimable value, there is one article in our pos- 
session which must not be omitted from this partial list of 
treasures. That is the portrait of Selina, Countess of Hunt- 
ingdon. Of it we are told that, after being repaired and 
renovated at an expense of $221.25, it was given to the 
Georgia Historical Society by the Trustees of Chatham 
Academy, in the year 1851, the letter accompanying the 
gift recording the facts that it was "presented by Lady 
Huntingdon to the Orphan Home in Chatham County, 
which, as is known, was endowed by her", and that "it is 
a truly magnificent affair; an original by Sir Joshua 
Reynolds". The portrait has been temporarily lent to the 
Huntingdon Club by the Society. Although the most 
valuable, it is but one of many portraits owned by the 
Society; but as this is not a catalogue I will mention only 
one other, that of Mr. Israel Keech Tefft, the Society's 
founder. It is a perfect likeness, and was bequeathed to the 
Society by Mr. TefTt's widow. 

In addition to a good collection of books and pamphlets 
relating to the history of Georgia, and other subjects, we 
have a large number of historical relics, some of which are 
interesting because of their connection with the colonial 
period and the events of the American Revolution, as well 
as of more recent times. Of the Revolutionary epoch one 
object of interest is a drum which was in actual service at 
the battles of Eutaw, Saratoga, and Cowpens. In the month 
of June, 1876, by permission of this Society, the drum was 



84 THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 

used in the celebration of the centennial of the Battle of 
Fort Moultrie (originally Fort Sullivan), and it was an 
object of great interest to the crowds w^ho followed the 
procession through the streets of Charleston. 

The story of the tyrannical measures adopted by Gen- 
eral Meade in 1868, including the removal from office of 
Governor Charles J. Jenkins and the patriotic conduct of 
the latter in carrying away of the great seal of the State, 
is a familiar one. When the seal was returned by him, 
after the troubles were over and Georgia was "recon- 
structed", a resolution was adopted by the Legislature 
authorizing the Governor to have made and presented to Mx. 
Jenkins a fac-simile, in solid gold, of the seal, and the 
presentation was made in July, 1873. That fac-simile was, 
after the death of the Governor, presented to the Georgia 
Historical Society by the member of his family to whom he 
bequeathed it, and is now in our custody. It bears the 
inscription : "Presented to Charles J. Jenkins by the State 
of Georgia", and this legend, "In Arduis Fidelis". 

The foregoing is a brief account of some of the valu- 
ables owned by the Society, and will serve to show that 
we have not been unmindful of the purpose for which the 
institution was founded. 

Before closing, special mention must be made of the 
Society's copy of the "Journal of Proceedings in Georgia", 
by William Stephens. While this work is very rare, it is 
seldom that a copy of the third volume can be found, but it 
is included in the set owned by this Library. 

The Keilbach collection of postage stamps and Cer- 
veau's plan of Savannah in 1837 are truly worthy of 
mention here. 



Annual S^pnrt nf ®* p. Hau^n^l 

©r^aaurpr of 
®1|? (f^eorgta l^tHtortral ^or i^tg 



.10 


100.00 


5.00 


40.00 


35.00 



Savannah, Ga., February 12, 1914. 

Balance on hand February 12, 1913 $2,227.77 

Note Georgia Historical Society as Trustee, Telfair 

Academy Arts and Sciences 1,500.00 

Certificate Chatham Real Estate & Improvement Co 200.00 

Interest on above, deposited Savings Department Chat- 
ham Real Estate and Improvement Co 8.86 

Cash from Wm. Harden, Librarian, sale of books 6.00 

Interest earned in Savannah Trust Co 55.45 

Dues from 90 members 1913 900.00 

Amount added to check for discount not used 

Dues from 10 members 1912 

Dues from 1 member one-half year 1912 

Dues from 4 members (men) 1914 

Dues from 7 members (women) 1914 

$5,078.18 
DISBURSEMENTS. 

Discount on checks $ .85 

Paid Wm. Harden (stamps). Voucher 1 18.00 

Paid Morning News, Voucher 2 770.80 

Paid Morning News, Voucher 3 11.50 

Paid Morning News. Voucher 4 951.60 

Paid Wm. Harden (stamps). Voucher 5 27.00 

Paid Morning News, Voucher 6 159.78 

Paid Lewis Publishing Co., Voucher 7 25.00 

Paid D. V. Lebey, Com., Vouchers 8, 9, 10.... 21.00 

Paid Treasurer's Salary, Voucher 11 100.00 

Paid Treasurer (stamps). Voucher 12 3.00 

Paid Charles Ellis. Chairman, Voucher 13 4.88 

Paid Com'l Litho. & ptg. Co., Voucher 14.... 16.25 

Paid Morning News, Voucher 15 12.58 $2,122.24 



$2,955.94 



Deduct loan to Trustees Telfair Academy. .. .$1,500.00 

Deduct Certificate Chat. R. E. & I. Co 200.00 

Deduct Deposit Savings Dept. C. R. E. & I. Co. 8.86 $1,708.86 



Amount Cash in Savannah Trust Co $1,247.08 

T. P. RAVENEL, Treasurer. 
Examined and found correct: 

H. C. CUNNINGHAM. Chairman Finance Committee. 



®Jtp (i^orgta l|tatortral i>nrirtij 



February 12, 1914. 



At Annual Report February 12, 1913, the membership 
of the Society was : — 

Active 96 

Life 2 

Honorary 8 

Corresponding 9 

115 

The following changes have taken place during the 
past year. 

The Society has gained by electing 62 active members, 
and one corresponding member has been added. 

Two active members have been dropped for non-pay- 
ment of dues and four active members have resigned. 

The Society now has the following: 

Active 152 

Life 2 

Honorary 7 

Corresponding 10 

171 
T, P. Ravenel. 



Annual Sri^nrt 



The Telfair Academy of Arts and Sciences 
In account with William Harden, Treas. 

1913 

Feb. 1. Balance on hand $2,046.46 

RECEIPTS: 

Dividends Augusta & Savannah Ry. Co 5,000.00 

Sale of Gwinnett autograph 2,800.00 

Tickets sold 130.00 

Catalogues sold 42.40 

Interest on deposits 63.47 

DISBURSEMENTS: 
Pd. Salaries: 

Mr. Melchers....$l 000.00 

Treasurer 120.00 

Miss Bradley.... 300.00 

Janitor 420.00—$ 1,8'W.OO 

Repairs 1,228.18 

Fuel 179.50 

Sundries 181.27 

Supplies 127.22 

Telephone 39.96 

Printing 29.75 

Water Rent 22.96 

Express Charges 26.37 

Labor 14.45 

Light 12.00 

Insurance 8-75 

1914 

Feb. 1. Balance on hand 6,371.92 



$10,082.33— $10,082.33 
Savannah, Ga., 1st February, 1914. 

Wm. Harden, 
Treas'r. 



Itbltngrapljjj 

of 



Collections of the Georgia Historicgi Society. 
Vol. I. Savannah, 1840. 

8vo, pp. xii, 307, (1). 

Contents : Introduction. Oration before the Society 
at the celebration of their first anniversary, February 
12, 1840, by W. Law ; New and Accurate Account of 
the Provinces of South Carolina and Georgia (by J. 
Oglethorpe), London, 1733; A Voyage to Georgia, 
1735, by F. Moore, London, 1744; An Impartial 
Inquiry into the State and Utility of the Province of 
Georgia (by B. Martyn), London, 1741; Reasons for 
Establishing the Colony of Georgia, with regard to 
the Trade of Great Britain (etc.), with Some Account 
of the Country, and the Designs of the Trustees (by 
B. Martyn), London, 1733; Sketch of the Life of Gen. 
James Oglethorpe, by Thomas Spalding. 

Collections of the Georgia Historical Society. 
Vol. II. Savannah, 1842. 

Svo, pp. (6) 336. 

Contents : Introduction. Discourse before the So- 
ciety at their second anniversary, February 12, 1841, 
(by W. B. Stevens) ; A New Voyage to Georgia, by a 
Young Gentleman, 2d ed., London, 1737 ; A State of 
the Province of Georgia, attested upon oath in the 
Court of Savannah, November 10, 1740, (by William 
Stephens), London, 1740; A Brief Account of the 
Causes that have Retarded the Progress of the Colony 
of Georgia, by P. Tailfer, H. Anderson, D. Douglas, 
Charleston, 1741 ; An Account Showing the Progress 



THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 89 

of the Colony of Georgia from its Establishment (by 
B. Martyn), London, 1741. Appendix: Account of 
the Society; Constitution; By-Laws; Act of In- 
corporation ; Officers. Members, 1842. 
Collections of the Georgia Historical Society. 
Vol. Ill, part 1. Savannah, 1848. 
8vo, pp. 88. 

Contents: Introduction. Biographical Sketch of Ben- 
jamin Hawkins; The Creek Confederacy (by W. B. 
Hodgson) ; A Sketch of the Creek Country, in 1798 
and 1799 (by B. Hawkins). Appendix; Indian 
Treaties, 1773-1796. 

No other part of this volume was issued. The Society 
published no more collections until 1873, when the 
publication was resumed with the designation of Vol. 
Ill, disregarding this first part. 

Collections of the Georgia Historical Society. 
VoL HI. Savannah, 1873. 

8vo, pp. vi, 428. 

Contents; Preface. Letters from General Oglethorpe 
to the Trustees of the Colony, October, 1735, to 
August, 1744; Report of Governor Sir James Wright to 
Lord Dartmouth on the Condition of the Colony, Sep- 
tember 20, 1773 ; Letters from Governor Sir James 
Wright to the Earl of Dartmouth and Lord George 
Germain, Secretaries of State for America, August 
24, 1774, to February 16, 1782. Appendix: Casimir 
Pulaski, address before the Society by C. C. Jones, Jr., 
upon the celebration of its thirty-second anniversary, 
February 13, 1871 ; address before the Society by R. D. 
Arnold, July 24, 1871. 
Collections of the Georgia Historical Society. 
Vol. IV. Savannah, 1878. 
8vo, pp. 263, 64. Illus. Plans. 

Contents: The Dead Towns of Georgia, (by Charles C. 
Jones, Jr.) ; Itinerant Observations in America, re- 
printed from the London Magazine. 1745-46. 



90 THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 

Collections of the Georgia Historical Society. 

Vol. V. Published by the Savannah Chapter of the 
Daughters of the American Revolution as a Contribu- 
tion to Georgia History. Savannah, Ga., 1901. 

Pt. I, pp. xiv, 139 (this part only published by D.A.R.). 
Contents : Proceedings of the Georgia Provincial 
Congress ; Proceedings of the Georgia Council of 
Safety, 3d November, 1775, to 17th February, 1777; 
Account of the Siege of Savannah, from a British 
Source. 

Pt. II, pp. 223. (This part was published by Mr. W. J. 
DeRenne as a contribution to Georgia history.) 
Contents : Order Book of Samuel Elbert, Colonel and 
Brigadier General in the Continental Army, October, 
1776, to November, 1778; Letter Book of Governor 
Samuel Elbert, from January, 1785, to November, 1785. 

Collections of the Georgia Historical Society. 
Vol. VI. Savannah, 1904. 

8vo, pp. vii, 245. Portrait. 

Contents : The letters of Hon. James Habersham, 

1756-1776. 

Collections of the Georgia Historical Society. 
Vol. VII. Savannah, 1909-1913. 

Pt. I, pp. 70. 

Contents : Letters of Montiano — Siege of St. Augus- 
tine. 

Pt. II, pp. 53. Maps and plans. 
Contents : Oglethorpe Monument. Illustrated. 
Pt. HI, pp. 112. 

Contents: The Spanish Official Account of the At- 
tack on the Colony of Georgia, in America, and of its 
Defeat on St. Simons Island by General James Ogle- 
thorpe. Portrait and Maps. 



THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 91 

Collections of the Georgia Historical Society. 
VOL. VIIL Savannah. 1913. 

Contents : Letters of Joseph Clay, merchant of Sa- 
vannah, 1776-1793 ; and a list of ships and vessels 
entered at the port of Savannah for May, 1765, 1766, 
and 1767. Ills. 

Pamphlet. 

A discourse delivered before the Society February 12, 

1840. By William Law. Savannah, 1840. 

8vo, pp. 43. 

On the early settlements and history of Georgia. 

Pamphlet. 

Historical lecture on Sergeant Jasper before the 

Society, 1841. By Robert M. Charlton. 

8vo. 

Dedicated to the Georgia Historical Society. 

Biographical Memorials of James Oglethorpe, founder 
of the Colony of Georgia. By Thaddeus Mason 
Harris. Boston, 1841. 
8vo, pp. xxii, 424. Portrait. Folded map. 

Pamphlet. 

A discourse before the Society February 12, 1841. By 

William Bacon Stevens. Savannah, 1841. 

8vo. pp. 40. 

On the events of the Revolution in Georgia. 

Pamphlet. 

A discourse on the qualifications and duties of an 

historian, delivered before the Society on its fourth 

anniversary, February 13, 1841. By Mitchell King. 

Savannah. Published by a resolution of the Society, 

1843. 

8vo. pp. 23. 



92 THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 

Pamphlet. 

A lecture delivered before the Society March 7, 1843. 
By John Elliott Ward. Savannah, 1843. 
8vo, pp. 22. 

Pamphlet. 

A lecture delivered before the Society at the Unitarian 
Church, Tuesday evening, March 14, 1843. By 
William A. Carruthers, M. D. Savannah, 1843. 
8vo, pp. 36. 

Pamphlet. 

A high civilization, the moral duty of Georgians. A 
discourse before the Society, February 12, 1844. By 
Stephen Elliott, Jr., Savannah, 1844. 
8vo, pp. 21. 

Pamphlet. 

Lecture before the Society, February 29, and March 4, 
1844, on the subject of education. By Samuel K. Tal- 
mage. Savannah, 1844. 
8vo, pp. 24. 

Pamphlet. 

A discourse delivered before the Society on the occa- 
sion of its sixth anniversary, February 12, 1845. By 
Alonzo Church. Savannah, 1845. 
8vo, pp. 34, 6. 

Pamphlet. 

The romance of life. A historical lecture before the 
Society on the 14th of January, 1845. By Robert M. 
Charlton. Savannah, 1845. 
8vo, pp. 19. 

A History of Georgia, from its first discovery by Euro- 
peans to the adoption of the present constitution in 
1798. By William B. Stevens. 2 vols. New York. 
1847, 1859. 
Two vols., 8vo. Plates. Plan. Map. 



THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 93 

Prepared at the request of the Society and published 
under its auspices. Pecuniary aid was rendered by the 
Society for the publication of the second volume. 

Broadside. 

Proceedings of meeting, January 7, 1855. 

Pamphlet. 

Address delivered before the Society on its nineteenth 
anniversary, February 12, 1858. By John E. Ward. 
Savannah, 1858. 
8vo, pp. 24. 

Pamphlet. 

Indian remains in Southern Georgia. Address before 
the Society on its twentieth anniversary, February 12, 
1859. By Charles C. Jones, Jr. Savannah, 1859. 
8vo, pp. 25, 

Pamphlet. 

Constitution, by-laws, and list of members. Savannah, 

1859. 

8vo, pp. 15. 

Pamphlet. 

A reply to a resolution of the Society, read before the 
Society at its anniversary meeting, February 12, 1866. 
By Stephen Elliott. Savannah, 1866. 
8vo, pp. 13. 

Pamphlet. 

Eulogy on the life and character of Stephen Elliott. 
By Solomon Cohen. Written and published at the 
request of the Society. Savannah, 1867. 
8vo, pp. 18. 

Pamphlet, 

Constitution, by-laws, and list of members. Savannah, 

1871. 

8vo, pp. 27. 



94 THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 

Wilde's Summer Rose; or, the Lament of the Captive. 

An authentic account of the origin, mystery, and ex- 
planation of R. H. Wilde's alleged plagiarism. By 
Anthony Barclay, and with his permission published 
by the Society. Savannah, 1871. Published in both 
bound and unbound form. 
8vo, pp. 70. 

Casimir Pulaski, 

An address delivered before the Society by Charles C. 
Jones, Jr., upon the occasion of the thirty-second 
anniversary, February 13, 1871. Savannah, 1873. 
8vo, pp. 28. Large paper. Also included in vol. iii of 
the Society's collections. 

Pamphlet. 

Proceedings, resolutions and communications, com- 
memorative of Edward J. Harden, attorney for the 
City of Savannah and president of the Society, who 
died April 19, 1873. Savannah, 1873. 
8vo, pp. 31. 

The Siege of Savannah in 1T79, as Described in Two Con- 
temporaneous Journals of French Officers of the Fleet 
of Count d'Estaing. Albany, 1874. 
4vo, pp. 77. Folded map. 

Edited by Charles C. Jones, Jr., and dedicated to the 
Georgia Historical Society. 

Pamphlet. 

Proceedings of the dedication of Hodgson Hall, by the 
Society, on occasion of its thirty-seventh anniversary, 
February 14, 1876. Savannah, 1876. 
8vo, pp. 29. Photograph. 

Pamphlet. 

Sergeant William Jasper. An address delivered before 
the Georgia Historical Society, in Savannah, Ga., on 
the 3rd of January, 1876. By Charles C. Jones, Jr., 



THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 95 

(Albany) Printed for the Society, 1876. 
8vo, pp. 36. 

Same. Albany, J. Munsell, 1876. 
8vo, pp. 36. 

Gettysburg. 

By Lafayette M'cLaws, (Read before the Society.) 
Southern Historical Society Papers. Vol. vii, pp. 64-90. 
Richmond, 1879. 

Pamphlet. 

Reminiscences of service with the first volunteer regi- 
ment of Georgia, in Charleston Harbor in 1863. An 
address before the Society. March 3, 1879. By Charles 
H. Olmstead. Savannah, 1879. 
8vo, pp. 15. 

The same in Southern Historical Society Papers, Vol. 
ii, pp. 118-125, 158-171. Richmond, 1883. 

Pamphlet. 

Hernando De Soto. The adventures encountered and 
the route pursued by the Adelantado during his march 
through the territory embraced within the present lim- 
its of Georgia. By Charles C. Jones, Jr. Read before 
the Society. Savannah, 1880. 
8vo, pp. 42. (1). Portrait. 

Pamphlet. 

Anniversary address before the Society on the 14th of 

February, 1881. By Charles C. Jones, Jr., Savannah, 

1881. 

8vo, pp. 40. 

Title on cover reads: "The Georgia Historical Society; 

its Founders, Patrons and Friends". 

Pamphlet. 

Constitution, by-laws, and list of members. Savannah, 

1883. 

Svo, pp. 31 (1). 



96 THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 

Pamphlet. 

A suggestion as to the origin of the plan of Savannah, 
Remarks by William Harden before the Society, Sep- 
tember 7, 1885. Savannah, 1885. 
8vo, pp. 4. No title page. 

Pamphlet. 

The life and services of the Hon. Maj. Gen. Samuel 
Elbert, of Georgia. By Charles C. Jones, Jr. An ad- 
dress before the Society, at Savannah, on the 6th of 
December, 1886. Printed for the Society. Cambridge, 
1887. 
8vo, pp. 48. 

Pamphlet. 

A brief sketch of the life and writings of Sidney La- 
nier. By Charles N. West. An address delivered be- 
fore the Society on the 5th of December, 1887. Printed 
for the Society. Savannah, 1888. 
8vo, pp. 25. 

Pamphlet. 

The interest and efficiency of woman in the develop- 
ment of literature and art. Address delivered at the 
annual meeting February 12, 1889. By Henry R. Jack- 
son, president of the Society. Savannah, 1889. 
8vo, pp. 15. 

Pamphlet. 

The life and times of William Harris Crawford, of 

Georgia. An address delivered by Charles N. West, 

A. M., before the Society, May 2, 1892. Savannah, 

1892. 

8vo. pp. 45. 

Pamphlet. 

Constitution, by-laws, and list of members. Savan- 
nah, 1894. 
8vo, pp. 35. 

Pamphlet. 

Constitution, by-laws, and list of members. Savan- 
nah, 1910. 
8vo, pp. 28. 



Jfbruarg 12, 1914 



1. Adams, 

2. Adler, 

3. Anderson, 

4. Anderson, 

5. Anderson, 

6. Anderson, 

7. Ashmore, 

8. Armstrong, 

9. Alexander, 

10. Abrahams, 

11. Bell, 

12. Bell, 

13. Bell, 

14. Bacon, 

15. Baldwin, 

16. Baldwin, 

17. Baldwin, 

18. Beckwith, 

19. Bullard, 

20. Billington, 

21. Barnard, 

22. Butler, 

23. Byck, 

24. Carson, 

25. Carswell, 

26. Charlton, 

27. Charlton, 

28. Churchill, 

29. Clay, 



Samuel B. 

Leopold 

Harry C. 

J. Randolph 

(Mrs. J. Randolph) Page W. 

Sarah Randolph 

Otis 

George F. 

(Mrs.) Nellie H. 

Edmund H. 

Frank G. 

Charles G. 

Edw. W. 

Hal H. 

George J. 

(Mrs. George J.) Lucy H. 

George H. 

Elizabeth 

(Mrs. B. F.) Elizabeth Millar 

(Mrs.) Gertrude 

James M. 

Robert M. 

David A. 

John A. G. 

John D. 

Walter, G. 

Thomas J. 

Aaron F. 

William L. 



98 



THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 



30. Colding, 

31. Cumming, 

32. Crawford, 

33. Cunningham, 

34. Cunningham, 

35. Cunningham, 

36. Cunningham, 

37. Cunningham, 

38. Cann, 

39. Cann, 

40. Cooper, 

41. Conant, 

42. Davis, 

43. Davis, 

44. Denmark, 

45. DeRenne, 

46. DeRenne, 

47. Dighton, 

48. Ellis, 

49. Ellis, 

50. Evans, 

51. Freeman, 

52. Folsom, 

53. Gignilliat, 

54. Gordon, 

55. Gordon, 

56. Gordon, 

57. Gordon, 

58. Gordon, 

59. Granger, 

60. Guckenheimer, 

61. Grant, 

62. Gaines, 

63. Gaines, 

64. Groves, 

65. Harden, 



New York City. 
Augusta, Ga, 



Waynesboro, Ga. 



Henry S. 

Joseph B. 

William, B. 

Henry C. 

(Mrs. Henry C.) Nora L. 

T. Mayhew, Jr. 

(Mrs. T. Mayhew, Jr.) LiUa C. W. 

Sarah A. 

J. Ferris 

George T. 

(Mrs. Hunter P.) Henrietta Tucker 

Atlanta, Ga. 
Elbridge R. 
William V. 
William H, 
Remer L. 
Wymberley J. 
Wymberley W. 
Samuel R. 
Charles 

(Mrs. Charles) Marie H. 
Lawton B, 
Davis 
H. B. 
William L. 
(Mrs.) Nellie K. 
William W. 

(Mrs. W. W.) Ellen Screven 
Beirne 

George Arthur 
Harvey 
Abe S. 

John W. Atlanta, Ga. 

Frederick F. 

(Mrs. Frederick F.) Frances E. 
Charles F. 
William 



Augusta, Ga, 
Mt. Vernon, Ga. 



THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 



99 



66. 


Hull, 


Joseph 


67. 


Haskell, 


Paul T., Jr. 


68. 


Haskell, 


Lewis W. 


69. 


Hilton, 


Joseph 


70. 


Hilton, 


(Mrs. Joseph) Ida N. 


71. 


Hancock, 


Elmer N. 


72. 


Harris, 


Stephen N. 


73. 


Hoxie, 


~ W. J. 


74. 


Johnson, 


H. Wiley 


75. 


Jones, 


G. Noble 


76. 


Jones, 


Jabez 


77. 


King, 


Alexander C. Atlanta, Ga. 


78. 


King, 


Harris M. 


79. 


King, 


E. P. Jr. Atlanta, Ga. 


80. 


King, 


Charles William Rome, Ga. 


81. 


Karow, 


(Mrs.) Anna Belle 


82. 


Krenson, 


William D. 


83. 


Lane, 


Mills B. 


84. 


Lawton, 


Alexitnder R. 


85. 


Lawton, 


(Mrs. Alexander R.) Ella B. 


86. 


Lawton, 


Alexander R., Jr. 


87. 


Lawton, 


(Mrs. Alexander R., Jr.) Elizabeth S, 


88. 


Lawton, 


Beckwith 


89. 


Lawrence, 


Alexander A. 


90. 


Lamar, 


Joseph R. Washington, D. C. 


91. 


Levy, 


Benjamin H. 


92. 


Levy, 


(Mrs, Benjamin H.) Rebecca 


93. 


Levy, 


Henry 


94. 


Levy, 


Arthur B. 


95. 


Little, 


John D. Atlanta, Ga. 


96. 


Low, 


(Mrs.) Juliette 


97. 


Mackall, 


William W. 


98. 


Mackall, 


(Mrs. William W.) Annie 


99. 


Mercer, 


George A. 


100. 


Myers, 


Joseph D. 


101. 


Myers, 


Lee Roy 


102. 


Moses, 


Cornelius F. 



100 THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 



103. 


Motte, 


John Ward 


104. 


Minis, 


J. Florance 


105. 


Minis, 


(Mrs. J. Florance) Louisa P. 


106. 


Minis, 


Isaac 


107. 


Moise, 


Theodore S. 


108. 


Meador, 


Richard D. 


109. 


Meldrim, 


Peter W. 


110. 


Meldrim, 


(Mrs. Peter W.) Frances C. 


111. 


Mills, 


George J. 


112. 


Mills, 


(Mrs. George J.) Euphemia F. 


113. 


Meinhard, 


Henry S. 


114. 


McAlpin, 


Henry 


115. 


McCauley, 


William F. 


116. 


McMillian, 


Thomas H. 


117. 


Neely, 


Robt. C. Waynesboro, Ga. 


118. 


Neville, 


Charles 


119. 


Neville, 


(Mrs. Charles) Frances Louisa 
Davis 


120. 


Owens, 


George W. 


121. 


Peabody, 


George Foster New York City, 
(Life Member) 


122. 


Peabody, 


Charles Samuel New York City, 
(Life Member) 


123. 


Paulsen, 


Jacob 


124. 


Pierpont, 


Wallace J. 


125. 


Ravenel, 


Thomas P. 


126. 


Roach, 


Richard 


127. 


Rauers, 


John J. 


128. 


Rosenheim, 


Joseph 


129. 


Rosenheim, 


David J. 


130. 


Read, 


Abram C. 


131. 


Shotter, 


Spencer P. 


132. 


Salas, 


Rafael 


133. 


Saussy, 


Frederick T. 


134. 


Saussy, 


(Mrs. Gordon) Hattie 


135. 


Stevens, 


Henry D. 


136. 


Smart, 


Horace P. 



THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 101 



137. 


Solomon, 


George 




138. 


Slaton, 


John M. 


Atlanta, Ga. 


139. 


St rob bar, 


A. Douglass 




140. 


Semmes, 


Rapihael T. 




141. 


Tiedeman, 


George W. 




142. 


Trosdal, 


Einar S. 




143. 


Walker, 


George P. 




144. 


Wee, 


(Mrs.) Josephine 


D. 


145. 


Williamson, ^Villiam W. 




146. 


Willcox, 


Charles H. 




147. 


Witcover, 


Hyman W. 




148. 


Wilson, 


William L. 




149. 


Wilson, 


(Mrs. William L.) Katharine An- 






derson 




150. 


Weber, 


Herman 




151. 


Waring, 


T. Pinckney 




152. 


Waring, 


P. Alston 




153. 


Winburn, 


William A. 




154. 


Wilder, 


Willis W. 




155. 


Wynn, 


J. O. 


Atlanta, Ga. 


156. 


Wright, 


Anton P. 
Honorary Members 




1. 


Adams, 


Charles Francis 


Boston, Mass. 


2. 


Carnegie, 


Andrew 


New York City. 


3. 


Gardiner, 


Asa Bird 


New York City. 


4. 


Green, 


Samuel A. 


Boston, Mass. 


5. 


Mackall, 


Leonard L. University of Jena, 






Germany. 




6. 


Phillips, 


Uldrick B. Ann 


Arbor, Michigan. 


7. 


Watson, 


Thomas E. 


Thomson, Ga. 






Corresponding Members 


1. 


Brock, 


Robert A. 


Richmond, Va. 


2. 


Barton, 


Edward M. 


Worcester, Mass. 


3. 


Brooks, 


William Fay 257 South 21st Street, 



Philadelphia. 



102 THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 



4. 


Cross, 


E. J. D. 


Baltimore, Md, 


5. 


Daggett, 


Samuel B. 


Boston, Mass, 


6. 


Hayden, 


Horace E. 


Wilkes-Barre, Pa. 


7. 


Manclhester, 


Alfred 


Salem, Mass, 


8. 


McDonald, 


P. M. 


Boston, Mass, 


9. 


Paine, 


Nathaniel 


Worcester, Mass, 


10. 


Thwing, 


E. P. 


Brooklyn, N. Y, 



Summary 



Active members 153 

Life members 2 

Honorary members 7 

Corresponding members 10 

Total 172 



(ifftora 

of 

From its organization, June 4, 1839, to February, 1914. 



Presidents. 

FROM TO 

John M. Berrien, June 4, 1839 Feb. 12, 1841 

Feb. 13, 1854 Jan. 1, 1856 

James M. Wayne, Feb. 12, 1841 Feb. 13, 1854 

Feb. 12, 1856 Feb. 17, 1862 

Charles S. Henry, Feb. 17, 1862 Aug. 19, 1864 

Stephen Elliott, Sept. 12, 1864 Dec. 21, 1866 

John Stoddard, Feb. 12, 1867 Feb. 12, 1868 

Edward J. Harden, Feb. 12, 1868 April 19, 1873 

George W. J. DeRenne, June 2, 1873 Mar. 2, 1874 

Henry Roots Jackson, Mar. 2, 1874 May 23, 1898 

John Screven, Mar. 6, 1899 Jan. 9, 1900 

George Anderson Mercer, Feb. 12, 1900 April 5, 1907 
Alexander Rudolf Lawton, April 5, 1907 

First Vice-Presidents. 

James M. Wayne, June 4, 1839 Feb. 12, 1841 

Matthew H. McAllister, Feb. 12, 1841 Feb. 12, 1851 

Charles S. Henry, Feb. 12, 1851 Feb. 17, 1862 

Stephen Elliott, Feb. 17, 1862 Sept. 12, 1864 

John Stoddard, Sept. 12, 1864 Feb. 12, 1867 

Solomon Cohen, Feb. 12, 1867 Feb. 12, 1868 

William M. Charters, Feb. 12, 1868 Jan. 6, 1883 

G. Moxley Sorrel, Feb. 12, 1883 Feb. 12, 1889 

John Screven, Feb. 12, 1889 Mar. 6, 1899 

George Anderson Mercer, Mar. 6, 1899 Feb. 12, 1900 

Richard J. Nunn, Feb. 12, 1900 April 5, 1907 
George J. Baldwin, April 5, 1907 



104 THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 
Second Vice-Presidents. 

FROM TO 

William B. Bulloch, June 4, 1839 Feb. 12, 1841 

William Law, Feb. 12, 1841 F^b. 12, 1853 

Stephen Elliott, Feb. 12, 1853 Feb. 17, 1862 

John Stoddard, Feb. 17, 1862 Sept. 12, 1864 

Solomon Cohen, Sept. 12, 1864 Feb. 12, 1867 

Edward J. Harden, Feb. 12, 1867 Feb. 12, 1868 

Alexander Robert Lawton, Feb. 12, 1868 Feb. 14, 1870 

Feb. 12, 1883 Feb. 12, 1888 

Juriah Harriss, Feb. 14, 1870 Nov. 7, 1876 

G. Moxley Sorrel, Feb. 12, 1877 Feb. 12, 1883 

John Screven, Feb. 12, 1888 Feb. 12, 1889 

Charles H. Olmstead, Feb. 12, 1889 Feb. 12, 1895 

William D. Harden, Feb. 12, 1895 Feb. 14, 1898 

George Anderson Mercer, Feb. 14, 1898 Mar. 6, 1899 

Richard J. Nunn, Mar. 6, 1899 Feb. 12, 1900 

Henry C. Cunningham, Feb. 12, 1900 April 5, 1907 

J. Florance Minis, April 5, 1907 

Corresponding Secretaries. 

Israel K. Tefft, 

Alexander A. Smets, 
Charles C. Jones, Jr., 
Richard D. Arnold, 
William Grayson Mann, 
William W. Paine, 
Robert Falligant, 
Charles N. West, 
Otis Ashmore, 



William Bacon Stevens, 
Henry K. Preston, 
Richard D. Arnold, 
J. P. Tustin, 
William S. Basinger, 



June 


4, 


1839 


Dec. 


12, 


1853 


Feb. 


13, 


1854 


June 


30, 


1862 


Dec. 


12, 


1853 


Feb. 


13, 


1854 


July 


14, 


1862 


Feb. 


12. 


1866 


Feb. 


12, 


1866 


Feb. 


14, 


1870 


Feb. 


14, 


1870 


July 


4, 


1881 


Feb. 


13, 


1882 


Aug. 


5, 


1882 


Feb. 


12, 


1883 


Feb. 


15, 


1892 


Feb. 


15, 


1892 


Dec. 


5, 


1892 


Feb. 


13, 


1893 








g Secretaries. 








June 


4, 


1839 


Feb. 


12, 


1842 


Feb. 


12, 


1842 


Feb. 


12, 


1844 


Feb. 


12, 


1844 


Feb. 


13, 


1854 


Feb. 


13, 


1854 


Feb. 


12, 


1856 


Feb. 


12, 


1855 


Feb. 


12, 


1855 



THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 105 



R. C Mackall, 


FROM 

Feb. 12, 


1856 


Nov. 


TO 

10, 


1856 


Easton Yonge, 


Nov. 


10, 


1856 


Feb. 


15, 


1880 


Samuel B. Adams, 


May 


3, 


1880 


F^b. 


13, 


1884 


W. H. Wade, 


Feb. 


13, 


1884 


Feb. 


15, 


1886 


W. N. Holt, 


Feb. 


15, 


1886 


Nov. 


17, 


1886 


Charles N. West, 


Mar. 


7, 


1887 


Feb. 


12, 


1889 




July 


6, 


1891 


Feb. 


15, 


1892 


Beirne Gordon, 


Feb. 


12, 


1889 


June 


1, 


1891 


T. D. Rockwell, 


Feb. 


15, 


1892 


Feb. 


13, 


1893 


George T. Cann, 


Feb. 


13, 


1893 


Feb. 


12, 


1895 


H. Wiley Johnson, 


Feb. 


12, 


1895 


Mar. 


6, 


1899 


Thomas P. Ravenel, 


Mar. 


6, 


1899 










Treasurers. 










George Wallace Hunter 


•, June 


4, 


1839 


Feb. 


12, 


1841 


Solomon Cohen, 


Feb. 


12, 


1841 


Feb. 


12, 


1844 


Edward J. Harden, 


Feb. 


12, 


1844 


Feb. 


13, 


1854 


William S. Basinger, 


Feb. 


13, 


1854 


Feb. 


12, 


1855 


Alexander A. Smets, 


Feb. 


12, 


1855 


May 


9, 


1862 


William S. Bogart, 


July 


14, 


1862 


Feb. 


12, 


1891 


James L. Rankin, 


Feb. 


12, 


1891 


Feb. 


12, 


1894 


Clarence S. Connerat, 


Feb. 


12, 


1894 


Feb. 


12, 


1896 


Alexander H. MacDonell, Feb. 


12, 


1896 


F^b. 


14, 


1898 


John M. Bryan, 


Feb. 


14, 


1898 


Mar. 


6, 


1899 


Uldrick H. McLaws, 


Mar. 


6, 


1899 


May 


2, 


1903 


Thomas P. Ravenel, 


May 


2, 


1903 










Librarians. 










Henry K. Preston, 


June 


4, 


1839 


Feb. 


12, 


1842 




Feb. 


12, 


1844 


Feb. 


12, 


1847 


William Bacon Stevens, Feb. 


12, 


1842 


Feb. 


13, 


1843 


Alexander A. Smets, 


Feb. 


13, 


1843 


Feb. 


12, 


1844 


Robert H. Griffin, 


Feb. 


12, 


1847 


Feb. 


12, 


1848 


Richard D. Arnold, 


Feb. 


12, 


1848 


Feb. 


12, 


1849 


Charles E. Tefft, 


Feb. 


12, 


1850 


Feb. 


12, 


1851 


Louis Knorr, 


Mar. 


12, 


1851 


Feb. 


12, 


1853 


John B. Mallard, 


Feb. 


12, 


1853 


Feb. 


13, 


1854 



106 THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 



William Epping, 


FROM 

Feb. 13, 1854 


Feb. 


TO 

12, 


1857 


James F. Cann, 


Feb. 


12, 


1857 


Feb. 


12, 


1868 


John S, F. Lancaster, 


Feb. 


12, 


1868 


July 


5, 


1869 


William Harden, 


Aug. 


2, 


1869 










* Curators. 










William Thorne Williams, June 


4 


1839 


Oct. 


9, 


1868 


Charles S. Henry, 


June 


4 


1839 


Feb. 


12, 


1851 


John C. Nicoll, 


June 


4 


1839 


Feb. 


12, 


1846 


William Law, 


June 


4, 


1839 


Feb. 


12, 


1841 


Richard D. Arnold, 


June 


4 


1839 


Feb. 


12, 


1844 




Mar. 


2 


1874 


July 


10, 


1876 


Robert M. Charlton, 


June 


4 


1839 


Feb. 


12, 


1846 


Matthew H. McAllister, 


June 


4 


1839 


Feb. 


12, 


1841 


Stephen Elliott, 


Feb. 


12 


1841 


Feb. 


12, 


1852 


Alexander A. Smets, 


Feb. 


12 


1841 


Feb. 


13, 


1843 




Feb. 


12, 


1844 


May 


9, 


1862 


William Bacon Stevens, 


Feb. 


13, 


1843 


Feb. 


12, 


1845 


William B. Hodgson, 


Feb. 


12, 


1845 


Feb. 


14, 


1870 


Joseph W. Jackson, 


Feb. 


12 


1846 


Dtec. 


28, 


1854 


Dexter Clapp, 


Feb. 


12 


1846 


Feb. 


12, 


1847 


Solomon Cohen, 


Feb. 


12 


1847 


Sept. 


12, 


1864 




Feb. 


12, 


1869 


Aug. 


14, 


1875 


John Stoddard, 


Feb. 


12, 


1851 


Feb. 


17, 


1862 


Jacob C. Levy, 


Feb. 


12, 


1852 


Feb. 


12, 


1855 


William Duncan, 


Feb. 


12, 


1855 


Feb. 


12, 


1869 


Joseph S. Fay, 


Feb. 


12, 


1855 


Feb. 


12, 


1858 


William M. Charters, 


Feb. 


12 


1858 


Feb. 


12, 


1868 


Charles C. Jones, Jr., 


Feb. 


17 


1862 


Juiy 


14, 


1862 


Edward J. Harden, 


July 


14, 


1862 


Feb. 


12, 


1867 


Thomas M. Nordwood, 


July 


14 


1862 


Feb. 


12, 


1877 




Feb. 


13 


1893 


Feb. 


12, 


1894 



•Previous to the year 1903 the executive body of the Society was styled 
the Board of Managers, consisting of the President, two Vice-Presidents, 
Corresponding Secretary, Recording Secretary, Treasurer, Librarian, and 
seven Curators — fourteen in all. 

On May 2, 1903 the name of the executive body was changed to the 
Board of Curators, and the number was reduced to twelve. 



THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 107 



Henry A. Richmond, 


FROM 

Sept. 12, 


1864 


Feb. 


TO 

12, 


Alexander Robert Lawton 


,Feb. 


12, 


1867 


Feb. 


12, 




Feb. 


14, 


1876 


Feb. 


12, 


Henry R. Jackson, 


Feb. 


12, 


1868 


Feb. 


14, 


Barnet Phillips, 


Feb. 


12, 


1868 


Feb. 


13, 


Juriah Harriss, 


Feb. 


12, 


1868 


Feb. 


14, 


William D. Harden, 


Feb. 


14, 


1870 


Feb. 


12, 


Aug. Schwaab, 


Feb. 


14, 


1870 


Mar. 


2, 




Feb. 


12, 


1877 


Feb. 


13, 


Bernard Mallon, 


Feb. 


14, 


1870 


Feb. 


12, 


John S. F. Lancaster, 


Feb. 


13, 


1871 


Aug. 


13, 


Robert Falligant, 


Feb. 


12, 


1872 


Feb. 


12, 




Mar. 


6, 


1899 


Jan. 


3, 


Charles H. Olmstead, 


Mar. 


2, 


1874 


Feb. 


12, 


George W. J. DeRenne, 


Feb. 


12, 


1877 


Aug. 


4, 


Richard J. Larcombe, 


Feb. 


12, 


1878 


Oct. 


13, 


William W. Paine, 


Feb. 


14, 


1881 


Feb. 


13, 


William H. Baker, 


Feb. 


13, 


1882 


Feb. 


13, 


John O. Ferill, 


Feb. 


12, 


1883 


April 


18, 


William N. Holt, 


Feb. 


12, 


1883 


Feb. 


15, 


John Screven, 


Feb. 


12, 


1885 


Feb. 


12, 


George A. Mercer, 


Feb. 


15, 


1886 


Feb. 


14, 




May 


2, 


1903 


Feb. 


25, 


W. G. Charlton, 


Feb. 


13, 


1888 


Feb. 


12, 


Ri(?hard J. Nunn, 


Feb. 


13, 


1888 


Mar. 


6, 




May 


2, 


1903 


June 


29, 


J. R. F. Tatnall, 


Feb. 


13, 


1888 


Dec. 


5, 


H. S. Haines, 


Feb. 


13, 


1888 


Nov. 


4, 


J. H. M. Clinch, 


Feb. 


12, 


1889 


May 


2, 


Charles N. West, 


Dec. 


2, 


1889 


June 


1, 




Mar. 


5, 


1894 


Feb. 


14, 


Lester Hubbell, 


July 


6, 


1891 


Feb. 


12, 


William Garrard, 


Feb. 


12, 


1894 


Feb. 


12, 


Henry C, Cunningham, 


Mar. 


4, 


1895 


Feb. 


12, 




May 


2, 


1903 






Horace P. Smart, Sr., 


Mar. 


4, 


1895 


May 


2, 


Augustus Oemler, 


Mar. 


4, 


1895 


Feb. 


12, 



108 THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 



Wymberley J. DeRenne, 


Feb. 


FROM 

12, 1896 


Feb. 


TO 

15, 


1897 




Feb. 


12, 


1912 








Joachim R. Saussy, 


Feb. 


15, 


1897 


Feb. 


25, 


1908 


Brantley A. Denmark, 


Feb. 


14, 


1898 


June 


13, 


1901 


William L. Clay, 


Feb. 


14, 


1898 


Feb. 


12, 


1902 


Charles F. Fulton, 


Feb. 


12, 


1900 


Mar. 


5, 


1906 


George J. Badwin, 


Feb. 


12, 


1902 








William W. Mackall, 


Feb. 


12, 


1902 








Alexander Rudolf Lawton 


,F0b. 


12, 


1902 








Otis Ashmore, 


May 


2, 


1903 








J. Florance Minis, 


May 


2, 


1903 








Spencer P. Shotter, 


May 


2, 


1903 


Feb. 


16, 


1910 




Feb. 


15, 


1911 


Feb. 


12, 


1913 


Uldrick H. McLaws, 


May 


2, 


1903 


Feb. 


16, 


1910 


Benjamin H. Levy, 


Mar. 


6, 


1906 








Thomas J. Charlton, 


Feb. 


25, 


1908 








William W. Williamson, 


Feb. 


25, 


1908 








Horace P. Smart, Jr., 


Feb. 


16, 


1910 


Feb. 


19, 


1914 



William W. Gordon, Jr., Feb. 16, 1910 
Charles Ellis, Feb. 19, 1914 



27 1915 



LIBRftRY OF CONGRESS 



014 416 001 % 



ORDEE OF BUSINESS. 



1. Ascertainment of Quorum. 

2. Confirmation of Minutes. 

3. Election of Members. 

4. Resignations. 

5. Election of Officers. 

6. Reports of Officers. 

7. Reports of Standing Committees. 

8. Reports of Special Committees. 

9. Unfinished Business. 

10. New Business. 

11. Miscellaneous. 



